Kerala CM Vijayan slams Rahul over nuns’ attack remark
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his allegation that he had sided with those who attacked nuns in Chhattisgarh, terming the remarks “ignorant and an instance of excessive rhetoric.”
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh in July last year on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion triggered a political row in the State, with Congress and CPI(M) targeting the saffron party over the incident.
In a strongly worded statement, Vijayan said Rahul appeared to have forgotten the Congress party’s role in enabling legal provisions that are now being “misused” against minorities, including nuns, in BJP-ruled States.
The CM’s remarks came soon after Rahul, while addressing various poll rallies in the State, referred to attacks on minorities in Manipur and Chhattisgarh, and claimed that Pinarayi Vijayan was aligned with forces behind such incidents as part of a BJP-LDF nexus.
Vijayan alleged that the law under which the nuns were arrested in Chhattisgarh traces its origins to the period when the State was formed in 2000 after being carved out of Madhya Pradesh, and was retained by the then Congress Government led by Ajit Jogi.
He said the legislation has been widely misused against minorities, but successive Congress Governments “failed to repeal it despite being in power for years.”
Referring to incidents during the 2022–23 Christmas — New Year period, Vijayan also accused the Congress of inaction when thousands of tribal Christians were allegedly displaced amid violence in the State, and questioned whether Rahul had distanced himself from the party leadership at the time.
He reiterated that the Left has consistently opposed such “unconstitutional” laws and demanded their repeal, noting that the CPI(M) had included the issue in its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Vijayan said the CPI(M) had strongly protested the arrest of the nuns in Chhattisgarh and that senior party leaders had intervened on the ground.
In contrast, the Left veteran alleged that the Congress response lacked sincerity, with only some Kerala leaders reacting, while the party’s leadership in Chhattisgarh remained largely silent.
Posing a question to Rahul, the CM asked whether the Congress would be willing to repeal similar laws in States where it is in power, including Himachal Pradesh.
“As far as the CPI(M) is concerned, Rahul Gandhi need not attempt to judge the party by the Congress’s political standards,” Vijayan added.
