The selection of candidates by the CPI(M) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to take on Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) veterans E.T. Mohammed Basheer and M.P. Abdussamad Samadani in Malappuram and Ponnani respectively raises questions whether the CPI(M) is cosying up to the IUML.
Among the 15 seats the CPI(M) is contesting, the party seems to have fielded the weakest candidates in Ponnani and Malappuram. When candidates with hardly any electoral experience are fielded against the IUML, all the other candidates of the CPI(M) are politicians of considerable experience. One of them is a Minister, another a Polit Bureau member, and three others are CPI(M)’s district secretaries.
Democratic Youth Federation of India State president V. Waseef, who is pitted against Mr. Basheer in Malappuram, and former IUML leader K.S. Hamza, who takes on Mr. Samadani in Ponnani, are considered the weakest among the 15. Mr. Waseef, a first-timer, is no match for Mr. Basheer, who has nearly four decades of legislatorial experience. Mr. Basheer had reached the Assembly four times, during which he became a Minister twice, and the Lok Sabha three times.
Mr. Hamza, who had been a State secretary of the IUML before being expelled for indiscipline, too is a novice in parliamentary election. Although he claims himself to be close to some organisations, including the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, it needs to be seen how deep he can go to woo the traditional electorate of Ponnani in his fight against his former party colleague Mr. Samadani.
The parliamentary experience of Mr. Samadani is no less than most other candidates the CPI(M) has fielded. Widely known for his oratorial skills, Mr. Samadani has represented the IUML in the Rajya Sabha four terms, the State Assembly for one term, and is the sitting Lok Sabha Member from Malappuram.
Although rumours are rife that Mr. Hamza will win a good portion of the Muslim votes, particularly from the Samastha, which has been going through a phase of faceoff with the IUML over supremacy in matters of community, it is experiment time for the CPI(M) to see how the traditional Muslim community vote for the party symbol.
All these years, the CPI(M) never used the party symbol for Independent candidates with the expectation of winning the community votes. It is time for the CPI(M) to see if there has been a change of attitude among the orthodox Muslims towards the Marxist-Communist symbols.
BJP State executive member K.K. Surendran has claimed that the fight in Ponnani and Malappuram is between the IUML and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP. He said the IUML and the CPI(M) were locked in a friendly contest in Malappuram and Ponnani.
According to Mr. Surendran, fielding weak candidates against the IUML is a strategy adopted by the CPI(M) to win over the IUML before the next Assembly election.
