Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday (July 2, 2025) accused the Congress of indulging in politics of opportunism, stating that although the party claimed to be protecting the Constitution and secularism, it sought help from an outfit such as the Jamaat-e-Islami, and was attempting to bring the latter into mainstream politics.
The Congress had for the first time openly taken the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami in the recent Nilambur Assembly by-election in the State, Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said at a press conference. “Earlier, their alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami was kept secret owing to some shame in Congress and their partners,” he said.
Congress leaders previously considered the Jamaat-e-Islami to be a dangerous organisation, and even the late Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had spoken against it, Mr. Chandrasekhar said. However, in desperation to win elections, the Congress was now aligning with the outfit as part of its opportunistic politics, he added.
Alleging that the Jamaat-e-Islami was against secularism, democracy, and believed in Islamic governance, the BJP leader said other communities had now realised how the Congress had fooled them for votes, and was resorting to the appeasement of the Muslim community. The party had allied with Islamic outfits in different parts of the country, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, he alleged.
The Congress had no development agenda and represented only corruption and appeasement, he said. “Once upon a time India’s largest national party [the Congress] has now nothing to offer for the people of India…the Karnataka economy is in shambles. Just before 2023, Karnataka was one of the strongest economies,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said, responding to a query.
Published – July 02, 2025 11:34 pm IST
