Thiruvananthapuram,  The Congress party in Kerala on Saturday sought to know from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan why Home Minister Amit Shah has been invited as 'chief guest' at the prestigious Nehru Trophy Boat Race scheduled to be held on the picturesque Vembanad lake in Alappuzha on September 4.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan pointed out that just ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sitting Kollam Lok Sabha member N.K. Premachandran had come under criticism from the CPI-M for having invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the Kollam by-pass.

"He was termed as a Sanghi and came under attack from the CPI-M. Now Vijayan has invited Shah to be the chief guest for the Nehru boat race. We wish to hear his explanation on why he did that? Is it because of the upcoming Lavalin case which is coming before the apex court shortly and also because of the numerous allegations that has surfaced against him in the gold smuggling case?" asked Satheesan.

"Things are very clear now that Vijayan during day-time takes an anti-BJP position and when dusk falls, he is a friend of the Sangh Parivar forces.

"We have told before also that the Kerala CPI-M has close links with the Sangh parivar forces based in Delhi. Please explain this, CM Vijayan," added Satheesan.

Senior Lok Sabha member K. Muraleedharan also slammed Vijayan, saying the Kerala Chief Minister has the habit of 'licking the legs' of Sangh Parivar leaders.

Vijayan would, however, share the stage with Modi on September 2. The Prime Minister is expected to arrive in Kochi to commission INS Vikrant.