Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at the Left government and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the continuing protest by a section of PSC rank holders in front of the state secretariat and claimed jobs were available in Kerala only for CPI(M) workers. The Wayanad MP also asked why the BJP was not attacking the CPI(M)-led government and “going soft on cases against the CM’s office.” “I fight the BJP and the ideology of RSS everyday.

The BJP attacks every step of mine. Right now, they are watching this speech, and thinking how they can attack me. I don’t understand, why are they going soft on cases against the CM’s office. Why is it taking so long.” “Why is the CBI and the ED not attacking the govt. I am confused. I know when you fight the BJP, they attack you 24 hours a day,” Gandhi said. He said there was only “one reason the BJP is going slow” in these cases which the public can “figure out.” Gandhi said the chief minister was not ready to discuss matters with the protesters who are on a “hunger strike” demanding jobs but would have held talks if they belonged to the Left parties.

“The left front said they will make Kerala perfect. Question is for whom? Perfect for the people of Kerala or perfect for the CPI(M) party? If you are one of their people, every single job is available for you. If you carry their flag, you can engage in smuggling.” You can sit in the CM’s office and do that job,” Gandhi said at a public meeting as part of the conclusion of the UDF’s ‘Aishwarya Yatra.’ Later he visited the protesting rank holders in front of the state secretariat and listened to their grievances.

Gandhi told the gathering that “if you are a young Keralite, you will have to fight for the job”. “There is only one way to fight nepotism. Hunger strike. But the CM is not going to talk to you.Why? Because you are not from the Left front. I guarantee you, if they were part of the Left party, the CM would have talked to them.

Every single job would have been given to them,” Gandhi said. He alleged that the Left Front government was attacking congress workers, when they protest in a non-violent manner.

“Don’t worry, there are many many congress workers to fight against them. We are not scared of your violence and the methods. But we will never use them,” he said. A section of rank holders have been protesting since January 26 in front of the state secretariat demanding revival of an expired State PSC rank list.

The Congress and the Youth Congress have also been protesting against the government alleging backdoor appointments after the government had recently regularised the service of many contractual employees who have been in service for more than ten years. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had rejected the Opposition’s allegations and said the state has been engaged in launching various developmental activities for the welfare of the people and there was a conspiracy to overshadow these achievements from reaching the common man.

Vijayan had earlier said the protests, led by the Congress, were against the interests of the job aspirants as they were seeking to revive an expired rank list to make appointments. Congress had earlier demanded that the rank list of Civil Police Officer (CPO), which expired in June 2020, be revived.