Thangal welcomes Sandeep Varier with open arms

Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson and State committee member Sandeep Varier, who defected to the Congress on Saturday, visited Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) State president Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal at his Panakkad house near here on Sunday.

Mr. Thangal welcomed Mr. Varier, and said that his party workers and he were particularly happy that a hardliner like Mr. Varier embraced secular ideology.

IUML national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, who joined Mr. Thangal to welcome the former BJP leader, said that Mr. Varier’s arrival in the Congress had a message for the BJP at national level. “The thought that the BJP is the last resort of politicians in India is gone with Mr. Varier joining the Congress. It is going to be a beginning of the Congress’s comeback,” said Mr. Kunhalikutty.

Describing the IUML as a secular party, Mr. Varier said that the chair he got beside Mr. Thangal was too big for him. “Malappuram has a great legacy of humanism and secularism. The role played by the Kodappanakkal Thangal family of Panakkad in maintaining that secular and humanistic fabric of Malappuram was immense. I always looked at this house with awe and admiration,” he said.

Mr. Varier also showered praise on Mr. Kunhalikutty. “He is a very down to earth leader. I wished some of the leaders of my former party (BJP) had that quality,” he said.

Mr. Varier reiterated that it was just a trailer, and the full picture was yet to be shown. Responding to Local Administration Minister M.B. Rajesh’s remarks against him as a ‘communal bigot’, Mr. Varier said: “Like food and clothes, political ideology too is a personal choice. Why so much intolerance when I joined the Congress?”

Published - November 17, 2024 08:44 pm IST