A flex board along the side of the well-paved road leading to Mapram village of Vazhakkad grama panchayat in Malappuram district reads thus: “Bappuvinu nadinte kanni vote” (In a first, Bappu to get his people’s vote).
E.T. Mohammed Basheer, United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from the Malappuram Lok Sabha constituency, affectionately called ‘Bappu’ by those close to him, is seeking votes from his village for the first time. The senior Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader has earlier been an MLA for Peringalam and Tirur and the MP for Ponnani since 2009.
“He will definitely win, and the majority of votes will be higher than what was garnered by [P.K.] Kunhalikutty and [M.P. Abdussamad] Samadani, who won from here earlier,” says Mohammedali, one of the residents of the village, as he emerges from the local mosque on a sultry Monday afternoon. Mr. Basheer has taken a break from hectic campaigning ahead of Id-ul-Fitr. He is seen attending religious rituals and personal meetings around his home.
“The Lok Sabha election results are going to be a verdict against the Union government’s anti-democratic and anti-secular policies. The minorities and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are the worst hit. The voters here are worried over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) as well,” Mr. Basheer points out. He alleges that the CPI(M)’s postures against the BJP reek of hypocrisy and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has failed on all counts.
Later in the evening, in a street corner meeting at Parambil Peedika in Peruvallur grama panchayat, V. Vaseef, LDF candidate, reiterates the Left’s commitment to constitutional values and secularism. “The Congress is asking what is the point in electing us to Parliament. Our politics is not confined to elections, it is for safeguarding certain values. We would like to remind them the Left’s support to the United Progressive Alliance in 2004 to keep communal forces at bay,” he says. Referring to the CAA, Mr. Vaseef accuses the BJP of creating division among the people. He also alleges that the Congress poll manifesto is silent on the legislation. A loud applause follows when Mr. Vaseef declares that the Left’s poll promises include scrapping the CAA.
Earlier in the day, National Democratic Alliance candidate M. Abdul Salam is attending a meeting of party leaders at Malappuram in the presence of Prakash Javadekar, senior BJP leader. At the Malappuram Press Club, he seeks votes from a group of artistes who were there to attend a press meet. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has implemented around 350 development projects, which have helped each and every person in the country,” Mr. Salam claims.
He claims that the LDF and the UDF are invoking the CAA to create fear among the people. “Muslim women can see through the game. They know how they are benefited by the triple talaq and how the uniform civil code is in their favour,” he adds.
