Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby on Friday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for “equating the CPI(M) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as his ideological enemies.”Speaking at the Oommen Chandy Smriti Sangamam at Puthuppally on Friday, Mr. Gandhi said he fights the RSS and the CPI(M) ideologically and accused both for “having no feelings for the people.”In a video posted on his X page, Mr.Baby said it was quite unfortunate that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha would make such a comparison in “a casual and sweeping manner.”“It is unfortunate that he made such a comment in Kerala where the CPI(M) has been in the forefront of fighting the RSS ideologically as well as politically and where they have killed around 100 comrades of the CPI(M). I don’t know whether Mr. Gandhi knows the record of the Congress in fighting the RSS in Kerala. The very fact that he in a way equated the CPI(M) and the RSS betrays the absence of a correct understanding of the role of the CPI(M) in Kerala or India. Rahul only needs to recall how Manmohan Singh could not form a govt. in 2004 without the support of the CPI(M) and other left parties as the Congress didn’t command a majority in the Lok Sabha after the 2004 election,” he said.Mr. Baby said “it appears that the moment Mr. Gandhi steps into Kerala, he becomes a former MP from Wayanad, where he had to fight the Left candidate and not the RSS.”“I hope and wish that he would be more serious while speaking against the CPI(M). Of course, the CPI(M) can be criticised. We will be compelled to criticise the Congress also, as we have done for their economic policies. We continue to criticise the Congress in a friendly manner, but we will never equate the congress and the BJP when we criticise,” he said.Published - July 18, 2025 11:29 pm IST