K.C. Venugopal fought his first election when he was 13, as a high school student, against the CPI(M)-affiliated SFI’s candidate. After numerous electoral battles over the next five decades — from college and university levels to the State Assembly and the Lok Sabha, KCV — as he is called — is facing the most unique electoral contest of his lifetime. He is in the battlefield to win the lone seat that the CPI(M) had won in Kerala in 2019, Alappuzha, even as he continues to coordinate a national alliance against the BJP that includes his principal rival in the State. He is General Secretary (Organisation) — GSO — of the Congress. This battle between the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for the 20th seat in Kerala says a lot about the challenges before the Opposition alliance. What is between the Left and the Congress could be termed a political situationship. And the BJP is trying to make an entry into Kerala by portraying the Left and the Congress as opportunistic.
The UDF and the LDF are constantly at daggers drawn in the State, but the last week to the polling on 26th is turning out to be bitter for the frenemies. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — whose candidacy from Wayanad in the State is also a point of acrimony — and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have personally crossed swords. In the eye of the storm as the key Congress strategist, KCV tries to remain unfazed.
“Party workers wanted me to contest, and I cannot say no to the same people who had elected me earlier from Alappuzha,” Mr. Venugopal explained his reason for contesting the Lok Sabha even though he is a member of the Rajya Sabha. “I am contesting only because Congress workers insisted,” he said even as he hopped from a convent to a temple, making quick stops at the homes of a few local influencers and at the market. Campaigning is at a furious pitch, but aides kept extending phones, going down a long list of people that they carried — party colleagues, alliance partners and journalists from across the country. “I am dividing my time between national affairs and local campaign,” he said, expressing relief that he would be free from his own contest by the end of the week. “People like you and support you, but it is unthinkable that any candidate in Kerala can win without intensive campaigning,” he said. “As of now, I dash to Delhi as and when required. After the second phase, my focus will shift to national politics completely.”
As both the UDF and the LDF try to maximise their seats at the cost of the other, campaigning is no-holds-barred. KCV’s Rajya Sabha colleague and comrade in arms in Delhi, CPI(M)‘s John Britas is scathing in his attack. “Rahul Gandhi and KCV are doing a great disservice to Opposition unity. Instead of coming and taking refuge in Kerala, Rahul should fight the BJP in the epicentre of communalism. As GSO, KCV should have been focusing on bringing together parties at the national level. If he wins in Alappuzha, he will vacate a Rajya Sabha seat which will be taken by the BJP. He is the real person managing the Congress show and is showing political immaturity by contesting in Alappuzha. Rahul and KCV, both contesting in Kerala is against the essence and spirit of unity against the BJP.”
Threat of communalism
However, both Mr. Venugopal and Mr. Britas are united in their view that facing off in Kerala and cooperating elsewhere is par for the course. “Communalism of the BJP is the biggest threat to the country and the Congress is making all sacrifices to build a national coalition against it,” he says, accusing the CPI(M) of helping the entry of the BJP in Kerala. ‘CPI(M) wants to finish the Congress in Kerala and usher in the BJP.” Mr. Britas levels the same charge against the Congress. “Congress is helping the BJP, and Rahul Gandhi even refused to use flags of the Congress and the Muslim League in Wayanad.”
“In a diverse country like India, it is not unusual or scandalous to contest against each other in a region and cooperate at the national level,” argues Mr. Britas. Citing the works of scholar Robin Jeffrey, Mr. Britas argued that the healthy contest between the LDF and the UDF is at the heart of Kerala’s unique politics. “This contest also ensures that political spectrum of Kerala is kept free of the BJP. So our fight is natural, historical and in alignment with objective of our reasonable collaboration at the national level to defeat the BJP.”
The BJP is seeking to reconfigure Kerala’s politics by terming the LDF and the UDF as two sides of the same coin. Among the candidates that are leading the BJP’s charge in the State is Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram, where he is challenging Congress’s Shashi Tharoor who has completed three terms in the Lok Sabha. “Both fronts have been profiting from creating fear among the people of Kerala but that is no longer working. They make accusations against us, of being anti-minority, anti-south India and so on. And then they are fighting against each other in Kerala. Nothing exposes their hypocrisy more than this — foes in Kerala and friends in Delhi. What politics is this?”
Mr. Chandrashekhar’s key campaign plank is that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision are the real alternative for the development of the State. “They are also united in one thing — which is in creating barriers for the development of the State. They lack a vision for the State, and the BJP under Modi has changed direction of development thinking in Kerala,” Mr. Chandrashekhar said.
