Thiruvananthapuram,  Hours after a senior RSS ideologue on Tuesday claimed that there seems to be a secret deal between the CPI-M and the BJP leaderships in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, feigning ignorance of the matter, attacked the BJP and the Congress, holding them responsible for "tarnishing democracy".

"Democracy has become a commodity and the BJP has used the Congress as a tool for purchasing legislators in states like Goa, Puducherry and Tripura. The Congress party has now come to a stage where its legislators are getting ready to join the BJP and its credibility has fallen to a new low," Vijayan said in an interaction with the media.

R. Balasankar, a former editor of the RSS mouthpiece Organiser, appearing on a Malayalam TV channel on Tuesday, said that he has now realised that the reason for denying him the Chengannur Assembly seat was perhaps due to an alleged secret deal between the state units of the BJP and the CPI-M.

Vijayan also alleged a nexus between the Congress and the BJP at Nemom in the 2016 Assembly polls, which it allowed the BJP to open its account in the state.

"Just look into the number of votes, which the UDF candidate then got... Where did all their votes go.... is it not clear, it was with their help that the lotus bloomed. Now some 'new' candidate has been placed by the Congress at Nemom. We will see what happens and look if there are any undercurrents. We have no reason for any worry," he said.

Incidentally even as Vijayan was speaking, K. Muraleedharan, Congress Lok Sabha member and son of legendary Congress leader K. Karunakaran was making a mass entry into the Nemom constituency as the Congress candidate.

There is a feeling is that Muraleedharan's entry has badly hurt the CPI-M and the electoral fight at Nemom is between the Congress and the BJP.