BJP Targets Congress Over Alleged Ties with Jamaat-e-Islami in Kerala By-Poll

Thiruvananthapuram: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has intensified its criticism of the Congress, accusing it of forging opportunistic alliances with groups it terms as “anti-national.” Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that the Congress party received formal support from Jamaat-e-Islami in the recently held Nilambur by-election.

Chandrasekhar claimed that this marks the first instance where the Congress has publicly aligned with Jamaat-e-Islami under political pressure, signaling what he described as a shift in the party’s strategy towards open appeasement. The BJP leader linked this development to what he said was a long-standing pattern of the Congress engaging in vote bank politics while projecting a commitment to constitutional values and secularism.

He further cited past incidents, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the Pahalgam incident, to question the Congress party’s political positioning and its alliance strategy under the INDIA bloc. According to Chandrasekhar, the Congress’s recent moves expose a broader trend of aligning with controversial groups for electoral gains.

The BJP has also taken exception to recent remarks attributed to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, suggesting an alleged attempt to downplay the significance of that period in India’s democratic history.