The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has accused the Congress in Kerala of indirectly helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by fielding its top leaders from the State instead of taking the fight to the Sangh Parivar’s heartlands in Hindi-speaking North India.
CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan said Congress had fielded Rahul Gandhi and All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal in the Wayanad and Alappuzha constituencies.
In the process, Congress aspired to split the anti-BJP votes in Kerala, where the Left Democratic Front (LDF), a key INDIA Bloc ally, held significant sway. It had identified the LDF and not the BJP as the main enemy.
Mr. Govindan said by fielding Mr. Venugopal in Kerala; the Congress had effectively ceded the Rajya Sabha seat the latter held in Rajasthan to the current BJP disposition.
He said that given Congress leaders’ penchant for defecting to the BJP at the drop of a hat, a vote for the UDF in Kerala was a referendum for the BJP at the Centre.
Mr. Govindan said the speeches of several UDF’s Lok Sabha candidates brimmed with praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “They would remorselessly cross over to the BJP after winning on a Congress ticket,” he said.
He said the Congress repeatedly failed to harness the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vote in the recent Assembly elections, estimated to be 67 percent of the electorate.
Instead, Mr. Govindan said, the Congress helped scatter secular votes by bullheadedly believing that it could go it alone at the hustings without accommodating anti-Sangh Parivar forces at the regional level.
Moreover, Mr. Govindan said Congress’ attack lines against the LDF were scarcely different than that of the BJP.
For one, the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, has defended the Central government’s financial embargo on Kerala by falsely blaming the LDF for the State’s fiscal crisis.
However, the Supreme Court order directing the Centre to give Kerala its due share of the national revenue has belied the Congress-BJP combined narrative amplified by Mr. Satheesan.
Moreover, Mr. Govindan said the SC said Kerala had distinctive welfare and development needs, including a robust social security net, and ordered the Centre to frame a special fiscal aid package for the State.
He said the SC had also questioned the fiscal wisdom of the Centre’s decision to lower Kerala’s net borrowing limit.
He countered Mr. Satheesan’s accusation that the LDF’s alleged reluctance to withdraw cases registered against anti-CAA protestors in 2019 smacked of insecurity to the secular cause. “Mr. Satheesan should realise that most of those who participated in the protests were LDF activists. The government has dropped charges that are not cognisable against most,” he said.
