Summary of this article
Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for remarks seen as supportive of Iran during the ongoing West Asia conflict.
He accused Vijayan of selective commentary and asked why he had not condemned attacks affecting Gulf countries that host large Malayalee populations.
Chandrasekhar said the Centre’s position, articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was that disputes should be resolved diplomatically and that war is not a solution.
The Kerala BJP unit on Sunday criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over his recent remarks supporting Iran in the ongoing conflict in West Asia, alleging that the statement reflected his "appeasement politics".
Addressing a press conference here, state BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the CM's remarks were seen as being supportive of Iran, while he remained silent on attacks against Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, where large number of Malayalees reside.
"Why are you speaking only about Iran? Isn't it part of your appeasement politics? Why are you not condemning attacks made by Iran," he asked, adding that Malayalees are largely living in countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations.
Pointing out that the union government is not against Iran, Chandrasekhar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had already made it clear that war is not a solution for anything.
If there is any dispute, it should be resolved diplomatically and that is the established stand of the Government of India and the NDA, he said.
He also said that it was the Union government that had given permission to an Iranian ship to safely anchor in Kochi.
Chandrasekhar further said it was not the Iranian people, but the Malayalees who had given mandate to the Pinarayi Vijayan government.
The BJP chief also urged CM Vijayan to talk about what he had done for the people of Kerala in the last 10 years instead of speaking about Iran, Syria or Gaza, allegedly to divert the attention of the public.
