V. Vaseef, State president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), is fighting his first electoral battle from the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency this time. A native of Kodiyathur in Kozhikode, he is also a district committee member of the CPI(M). Mr. Vaseef speaks to The Hindu on the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) hopes and promises to the people.
The Malappuram seat, and its earlier version, Manjeri, are considered to be among the safe constituencies of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Except the CPI(M)’s T.K. Hamza, who won the seat in 2004, all the other MPs had been from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). What are the LDF’s expectations this time?
Malappuram has had MPs who were not accessible to the people. For them, the MP’s post is only a stepping stone to power. They have failed in fulfilling their responsibilities to the constituency. They have paid scant regard for the development of the Angadippuram railway station, off-campus centre of the Aligarh Muslim University, and the Calicut International Airport. Our promise is that we will always be with the people of the constituency.
We are trying to highlight the fact that only the Left has taken a consistent political stand on issues such as triple talaq, beef ban, Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Uniform Civil Code, and the Palestine conflict. Only the Kerala government had the conviction to pass a resolution against the CAA in the Assembly. The UDF MPs, including those belonging to the IUML, have not put up a consistent and strong resistance against these policy issues. A large number of people are aware of the fact that only the Left can counter the politics of religious polarisation pursued by the Sangh Parivar at the national level. They also realise that more Members of Parliament from the Left parties are needed to ensure that.
The IUML has interchanged the seats of their incumbent MPs this time, with M.P. Abdussamad Samadani being fielded in Ponnani and E.T. Mohammed Basheer contesting from Malappuram. How do you view this?
I am sure that the people will evaluate their actions. Those who have won from a seat are being shifted to another place without any particular reason. It is like cheating the voters who have elected both Mr. Basheer and Mr. Samadani as MPs. The people could very well think that both these MPs are unwilling to face them again.
There are reports about a possible rift between the Sunni scholars’ forum, the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, and the IUML. Will it have any impact on the Lok Sabha polls?
Not only the Samastha, but many other organisations and sections of society will express their confidence in the LDF. This is a fight for democracy and secularism. P.K. Kunhalikutty was elected with a margin of 2.6 lakh votes in 2019. However, in the 2021 bypolls, Mr. Samadani’s victory margin came down to 1.14 lakh votes. We are hopeful that the LDF will emerge victorious this time.
