The State committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] on Sunday felt the “incremental disintegration” of the Congress would benefit the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Assembly elections in May.
CPI(M) acting secretary A. Vijayaraghavan, who chaired the meeting, said voters had punished the Congress in the local body polls for embracing radical Islamist groups such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and its political arm, the Welfare Party of India (WPI).
A "radicalised" Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) had subsumed the Congress. It had emerged as the dominant partner in the United Democratic Front (UDF).
The IUML had tried to polarise the electorate into competing caste and communal factions by attempting to stir up bitterness over the government's decision to accord 10% reservation in employment to impoverished persons hailing from forward communities.
The Congress had abandoned its secular principles and played second fiddle to the IUML. The disavowal had caused secular elements in Congress to rise in revolt against the UDF leadership. They would gravitate towards the LDF. The Congress had ceased to be a secular alternative to the Left in State politics. The alliance with the WPI had tainted the party permanently.
Kerala's political landscape had changed. A coming together of communal forces could not upend the LDF. "There is no scope for a second Liberation Struggle in Kerala," he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has realised the fact. It could make little headway in the polls. The Hindu majoritarian BJP and Islamist parties shared a symbiotic relationship. One justified the existence of the other.
A robust attempt at household level welfarism in the wake of the economically crippling COVID-19 pandemic had helped the government counter the Opposition's recriminatory tactics and coast to victory in the local body polls.
The CPI(M) had approached voters on a development and social security plank. It did not view politics through the restrictive and narrow prism of caste and religion.
The CPI(M) faced no mutiny in Alappuzha. “It is a minor local issue and the party has an established mechanism to resolve such matters," he said. The LDF was yet to take up sharing of seats, and the coalition remained cohesive.
