Kozhikode, Nov 26 (IANS): Former Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Monday said he did not require Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's certificate to prove his secular credentials.

Antony was responding to Vijayan's criticism that it was the Congress leader who was giving an impetus to the BJP/RSS by criticising the state government and the police for creating trouble for the devotees at Sabarimala. Vijayan had said that even the Kerala High Court had given a 'clean chit' to the way the administration handled the Sabarimala issue.

"I entered politics much before Vijayan began his political career and I don't need his certificate to prove my secular credentials," said the former Kerala Chief Minister.

"The game plan of Vijayan is that he wants to see the Congress perish and for that he is creating a political space for the BJP/RSS and hence he is giving all the opportunity for them to grow in Kerala. Vijayan is solely responsible for all the fracas at Sabarimala and he has given the BJP/RSS the space for it," said Antony.