A two-day State committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] that concluded here on Sunday reportedly perceived that Congress’s “belated” decision to boycott the consecration of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya had, in some measure, dented the enthusiasm of the sizeable minority communities in Kerala for the United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition.
The meeting reportedly reaffirmed the party’s perspective that the Congress toed a “muted and pale imitation of the Sangh Parivar’s extreme Hindu majoritarian line” even in Kerala, despite the State’s sizeable Muslim and Christian population and inherent secular nature.
Responding to media persons, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said: “Even in Kerala, the Congress leadership dragged its feet over attending the heavily politicised temple inauguration. Congress leaders in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka further blurred the ideological border between their party and the Sangh Parivar by urging people to light lamps to celebrate the event.”
Politics over faith
Mr. Govindan said the CPI(M)‘s unequivocal stance that the temple inauguration had more to do with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) politics than devotion, faith or spirituality forced the Congress to backtrack somewhat hesitantly and at the last minute.
He said Congress’s ambivalence about rejecting the BJP’s brazen electoral pitch using religion as an electoral springboard had caused fissures in that party’s State unit and the UDF.
The CPI(M) State committee reiterated that the BJP was not in the reckoning in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala.
“The minorities in Kerala are acutely aware of the danger posed by the BJP. The genocidal attacks against minorities in Gujarat and Manipur remain stark in their memory. The match-up in Kerala is between the ruling front and the Opposition. The BJP is nowhere in the picture,” Mr. Govindan said.
National footprint
The CPI(M) decided to increase its national footprint as a secular force for the good. Mr. Govindan said the Left’s absence in the second United Progressive Alliance (UPA) resulted in the Congress yielding political ground to the BJP.
The State committee felt the Cabinet’s Navakerala Sadas public outreach programme helped muster public opinion against the Centre’s financial embargo on Kerala.
