“Heightened desperation.”
That’s how former United National Congress minister Vasant Bharath has described party leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s attack on him at the UNC’s Monday Night Forum.
Persad-Bissessar had called out Bharath while defending the UNC Women’s Arm in the clash that occurred with a group representing former Caroni workers last Sunday at Divali Nagar.
The UNC’s David Lee had questioned if Bharath was “behind this thing” but Bharath had denied any connection with the activity.
However, on Monday, Persad-Bissessar referred to people who’d “sent” the Caroni workers. She said she’d purged the UNC of people who believe in caste and class, who believe “because of your family connections, you should be there” and purged the party from issues of dynasty politics, discrimination and segregation. She told Bharath to stop “washing his mouth on UNC rank and file membership.” (See page 17)
Yesterday, Bharath responded to her attack.
He said he’d noted her comments “in which I was accused, by reasonable inference, of ‘sending those despicable low life, lochos to beat and abuse UNC women.’”
Bharath alleged, “This lady is clearly unstable ... Having called for unity only last week, she’s now boasting of having cleansed the party of caste and class. These continued unwarranted, obsessive and baseless attacks on me shows a heightened level of desperation that she has lost her grip on the party and on reality.
“She continues to disrespect the base of the party by believing they’re uneducated and naive enough to accept her blatant lies and fabrications, taking them for granted by playing 1960’ politics with their children’s lives when these crisis times call for a level, sober head, providing hope, comfort and assurance to a seriously burdened people.”
Bharath added, “In her desperation, she’d now resorted to abusing fellow UNC activists by calling them ‘hooligans, stalkers, lochos and lowlifes’… simply because they were engaged in peaceful protest for their Caroni lands.
“I denounce and reject this kind of gutter behaviour from the leader of the Opposition and strenuously deny these false and baseless allegations.”
He added, “Rest assured I intend to do whatever is necessary to prevent the continued slurring of my name and correct the public record.”
Meanwhile, ex-UNC minister Devant Maharaj, who’d supported Bharath’s 2020 bid, also slammed Persad-Bissessar’s comments. Now living in Canada, Maharaj said, “While T&T faces a foreign exchange crisis, mass unemployment, increasing food inflation, increasing crime, declining healthcare, continued economic impact of COVID-19, global supply challenges on the economy, a declining energy sector and other national issues, the Opposition Leader chose instead to attack Bharath.
“I received a flurry of voice notes and messages concerning the unwarranted, unprovoked attack. Unable and incapable of dealing with the ruling PNM government in a sober, educated manner, Kamla preferred to turn inward to find an unsuspecting villain in Bharath to attack.
“On reading media reports, the Opposition Leader boasted of purging the party of who supported nepotism, caste, class, family connections and dynastic politics implying, of course, Bharath was guilty of using one of these- pilloried minus a shred of evidence.
“Vasant is remembered as one of the most effective efficient UNC ministers. But competency and intelligence in the UNC is much like COVID19—to be quarantined and eliminated.”
He questioned if the UNC’s advisors “appear to be Jack Daniels, Jose Cuervo and Johnny Walker.”
