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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the INDIA bloc was not a front, but a system of Opposition political parties that has come up as a platform against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
The statement by Vijayan comes amidst an intense fight between the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front -- both INDIA bloc partners -- in Kerala ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the state on April 26.
He said, during a press meet in Kannur, that during the LS polls, alliances were being formed in various states as part of the platform and its result was that the Bharatiya Janata Party was being largely isolated.
"There is also a strong public sentiment against the BJP in the country," he added.
A final decision would be taken regarding the bloc's next step only after the polls after analysing the prevailing situation, the Marxist veteran said in response to a query as to whether the partners in the INDIA bloc were moving towards the goal for which the front was created.
On being asked whether Rahul Gandhi was the prime ministerial candidate of the bloc, Vijayan said that the Congress has not made any decision about it yet.
He said that in the last LS polls in 2019, the Congress had sought votes by projecting Gandhi as the PM candidate.
"Since people in Kerala have had the experience of that, I do not think they will do that again this time," he said.
Vijayan said as far as the Left front was concerned, after all the parties against the BJP win in the polls, at that time a decision would be taken on who would be the leader of the INDIA bloc.