Pathanamthitta: Emphasising the need for greater unity within the INDIA alliance, CPM general secretary M A Baby on Thursday urged its constituent parties to minimise internal competition as much as possible and jointly contest in at least 400 Lok Sabha seats.

He was speaking at a discussion held as part of the Manorama Hortus Outreach programme, organised in connection with Concordia-25, an event marking the 150th anniversary of the Thumpamon Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

According to Baby, the foundational idea of India is under threat, with the BJP, a party controlled by the RSS - an organisation with fascist tendencies - currently in power. He noted that the INDIA bloc was instrumental in denying the BJP a simple majority in the last Lok Sabha elections.

While acknowledging that some parties within the broader alliance may align differently at the regional level, the CPM general secretary maintained that such deviations would not impact the overall unity of the coalition at the national stage. “There are parties that constantly focus on what they will gain after elections. The CPM is not a party that chases political fortune,” he said.

Addressing the recent controversies, Baby claimed that the report by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) involving Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena, in the "black sand" case was politically motivated. He also confirmed that Pinarayi Vijayan will lead the Left Democratic Front (LDF) into the next assembly elections.

Defending the state government’s decision to hold anniversary celebrations, he said such initiatives serve as platforms to communicate positive things to the public.

Malayala Manorama Senior Special Correspondent Jayachandran Elankath moderated the discussion.