CM Pinarayi Vijayan slams Nitesh Rane over 'Kerala is mini Pakistan' remark: 'Not fit to continue as minister'

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came down heavily on Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane over his remarks. (File Photo: PTI)

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come down heavily on Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane over his objectionable remarks, terming it deplorable and highly provocative.

Addressing a gathering in Pune on Monday, Rane referred to Kerala as "mini Pakistan" and claimed that Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi won elections from the state because "terrorists vote for them".

"Kerala is mini Pakistan… that is why Rahul Gandhi and his sister are elected from there. All terrorists vote for them. This is the truth, you can ask. They have become MPs after taking terrorists with them," Rane had said.

In a strongly-worded reaction to Rane's remarks, CM Vijayan demanded that the Maharashtra government remove Rane as minister and wondered why the BJP has remained tight-lipped over the leader's remarks.

"The Maharashtra minister’s words reflected the Sangh Parivar’s approach towards Kerala. Sangh Parivar is of the view that it can alienate places where it finds it difficult to gain control, by unleashing such hate campaigns. The minister is not fit to continue in his post. It is surprising that the leadership of the party that rules the country has not reacted to the statement of the minister, who has breached the oath of office by insulting the Constitution of the country,” said Vijayan.

While the Congress objected to Rane's remarks, it also sought to link them to the recent comments by the leaders of CPI(M) on the election victories of Rahul and Priyanka from Kerala's Wayanad.

"People want to know whether the Prime Minister and Kerala Chief Minister have the same view. It is the CPI(M) stand that prompted the BJP to spit communal venom. The minister should quit, and he should be disqualified. The Congress will politically and legally fight against the statement which depicted people of Wayanad as terrorists," Congress general secretary in-charge (organisation) KC Venugopal said.

Following Priyanka's victory in the byelections on the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, the Kerala CPI(M) had alleged that a "communal Muslim alliance" was behind the sibling's electoral victories from the constituency. While Priyanka's victory marked her debut in the Lok Sabha, her brother Rahul represented the constituency from 2019-2024. He contested and won the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 but vacated the seat to retain Rae Bareli, his second Lok Sabha constituency.

Earlier this month, CPI(M) politburo member A Vijayaraghavan said at a party convention that Rahul would not have reached Delhi without the support of the communal Muslim alliance. Referring to Priyanka's victory from the seat after Rahul vacated it, Vijayaraghavan said the worst extremist elements were in her procession.

Notably, Rahul's victory in Wayanad in 2019 had led to BJP leaders invoking Pakistan over the overwhelming presence of the green flags of Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) along with the Tricolour during a roadshow ahead of the nomination process.

"When a procession is taken out, you cannot make out whether it is an India or a Pakistan procession," Union Home Minister Amit Shah had then remarked.

CPI(M) had raked up a controversy over Muslim voters in the constituency when Congress decided to field Priyanka from Wayanad. Vijayan had then said that Priyanka was contesting with the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which is not in "favour of a democratic system".

The CM said the Jamaat-e-Islami stood for an “Islamic regime” and the “extremist section” was “trying to gain influence in the Indian Union Muslim League”.