No Hugs Please, Pinarayi Vijayan Responds To Rahul Gandhi

Former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who is currently the Leader of the Opposition in the state, has responded to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s assertion that he cannot “hug” Vijayan because of political differences, saying that hugging is not something political leaders typically do when they meet; they usually greet each other or exchange courtesies.

Responding to reporters’ questions about Gandhi’s politically loaded remark, Vijayan, a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, said: “Hugging doesn’t usually happen between us political leaders. Only in rare cases do we do that. When Rahul Gandhi and I meet, usually we either greet each other or shake hands.” He, however, added that the images that had gone viral after Gandhi’s comment surfaced were those of Rahul Gandhi hugging his biggest political rival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vijayan added that Gandhi's statements reflect his weak backing for a cohesive opposition front.

In an audio recording of his speech at the June 8 meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. opposition bloc, of which both the Congress and the CPI(M) are members, Gandhi said: “If you're asking me to go and hug the ex-chief minister of Kerala, I cannot and I will not because I have an ongoing political fight with him.” At the height of the campaign ahead of the recent Kerala Assembly election, Gandhi had accused Vijayan of entering into an understanding with the BJP. Ahead of the alliance meeting, the CPI(M) had written to Congress president and alliance chairman Mallikarjun Kharge, protesting against such insinuations and asking the grouping to clear the air over allegations the party considered baseless and preposterous.

The Constitution Club of India meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. alliance saw several constituents attack Gandhi and the Congress for not doing enough to keep the flock together, highlighting its treatment of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which boycotted the meeting accusing the Congress of betrayal. Several others, including those who attended and those who stayed away, also criticised the Congress for taking unilateral decisions without respecting coalition dharma. For its part, the CPI(M) sharply attacked Gandhi for unfairly targeting Vijayan during the Kerala election campaign, both before the meeting and during the discussions there.

At the meeting, Gandhi sought to occupy the moral high ground, stating that he would not respond to criticism of his party and claiming that he follows the Shiva tradition of swallowing all poison. He added: “I'm sorry to say that there is confusion in this group. The confusion is that you, the SP (Samajwadi Party), the TMC (Trinamool Congress), the RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) believe that the political instruments you have used so far will still work. These only worked when the Indian state provided a fair field for them to operate in. That field does not exist anymore.”

Gandhi then accused the BJP of controlling state institutions. “The BJP controls the legal system. The BJP controls the bureaucracy. It controls the intelligence agencies. The BJP even controls the Election Commission. I have many friends in the TMC. They were convinced that they were sweeping the election in Bengal. I kept telling them, you're in dreamland. I have seen what happens. I have seen it in Gujarat. I have seen it in Madhya Pradesh. I have seen it in Chhattisgarh. I have seen it in Haryana and in Maharashtra. And yet many of you are still not convinced. The Congress party is a party of resistance.”