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Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 6 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that Congress is known for adopting a soft Hindutva agenda and that there was nothing new in the remarks of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi on Ayodhya temple construction.

"I am not surprised regarding, Priyanka Gandhi's remark on Ayodhya. From Rajiv Gandhi and Narasimha Rao, Congress had followed a similar stance. I don't think Congress has any stand when it comes to secularism. 

If it was the case, then our country would not have reached such a level," the chief minister said when asked about the 'Bhumi Pujan' ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday.

"There is nothing new on Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi's position on the issue. They are following the Congress' soft Hindutva agenda. There is no element of surprise," Vijayan said.

Further, Vijayan said that CPI(M) Politburo had made clear the party's viewpoint on the Ayodhya temple construction.

"When it comes to Ayodhya issue. I want to ask who had allowed worship there. It was Congress. Who had allowed to lay the idol there? It was Congress. 

Who gave permission to Karseva? It was Congress. Even when it came to demolition of Babri Masjid too who shut their eyes and gave a silent nod for it- wasn't it the Congress regime at the centre? And Muslim League (IUML) was part of it. These are all part of our history," said Kerala Chief Minister.

He said instead of involving in discussions on it, more time should be utilised towards containing the COVID-19 spread in the country and helping the poor who are suffering due to the pandemic.

Idukki, Aug 7: Several people lost their lives and dozens of tea estate workers are feared trapped under soil in Kerala’s Munnar after torrential rains triggered a massive landslide on today. 

As many as five bodies have been recovered and rescue workers are fighting inclement weather to remove the debris.

According to rescue workers, four lanes of quarters and a church are buried under mud and around 80 people are feared trapped.

Seven people have been rescued so far and shifted to the hospital.

Sources said a portion of Pettimudi came crashing down on the workers colony with a deafening roar in the wee hours of Friday.

As people were sleeping in the quarters, there was little time to escape.

Further, with the Periyavara bridge being washed away, it became all the more difficult for rescue workers to reach the spot.

The construction of a new temporary Periyavara bridge however, is underway.

The bridge was previously destructed during the deluge of August 2018. Later during the north west monsoons and the south west monsoon of 2019, it suffered damage again.

The present bridge, which got damaged on Thursday after Kannimala river levels rose, was constructed under the leadership of Coir fed.

Although a new concrete bridge has been constructed near the temporary bridge in Periyavara, vehicle  movement has not been possible because the authorities are yet to build its approach via road.

The new bridge is to be constructed at a cost of Rs 4.75 crore from Devikulam MLA S Rajendran's fund.

The entire area has been cut off from outside world and communication networks have also crashed.

Teams of Fire and Rescue personnel, NDRF, revenue officials, estate workers and police are struggling to conduct rescue operations.

Meanwhile, District collector H Dhineshan said a team of rescue personnel was sent to Pettymudy after he was briefed about the mishap and search operations to locate and rescue people are underway.

Facilities have been arranged at the hospitals nearby to provide necessary treatment facilities to the people being rescued.