Kasaragod: A fresh coat of green paint on the compound walls of the Kasaragod municipal office has sparked outrage in the CPM, with the party’s in-charge of the local body asking, “Is this Pakistan!” The colour -- closer to military green than the IUML’s trademark emerald green -- became the focal point of a CPM protest against what it alleges is a larger plan by the Muslim League to “sabotage the local body elections” by adding bogus voters in key wards.

“Look at the colour of the wall. Is this Pakistan! Look at the colour of the wall. Isn’t this exactly what you accuse the RSS of?” said CPM Kasaragod district committee member Muhammad Haneefa. “Have you seen any wall painted green anywhere in Kerala? This shows the high-handedness of the Muslim League. They are creating a situation for communal polarisation. In Kerala, 70% of the local bodies are ruled by the CPM. Have you seen any panchayat office painted red?” Haneefa was leading the protest in front of the municipal office on Monday.

“The Muslim League in Kasaragod is becoming like Narendra Modi’s BJP, which refuses to release government funds unless buildings are painted saffron and his face is plastered on the walls. What we see in Kerala today is a strong resistance against such politics,” said Haneefa, a Marxist leader from the Muslim League-dominated Chengala panchayat, and in charge of CPM’s election for Kasaragod municipality.

Fortifying against rebellion?
The CPM has only one councillor and the Congress none in the 38-member Kasaragod Municipality, where the contest on paper appears to be between the IUML and the BJP. However, because the town’s wards are largely homogeneous in their demographic composition, the IUML and the BJP rarely face each other directly in any ward. Of the 38 seats, the IUML holds 21 and the BJP 14.

For the past decade, though, the Muslim League has been battling internal dissent and has repeatedly lost the prestigious Fish Market ward (No. 20) -- home to some of its wealthiest supporters -- to rebel candidates. In 2015, the IUML candidate lost to anti-corruption crusader Rashid Poorannam, who had fallen out with the party, by 113 votes, despite flying in voters from West Asian countries. In 2020, Haseena Noushad, Rashid’s ally, won the seat by two votes, defeating IUML’s Saira Banu Kamal, who secured 287.

Neighbouring Honnamoola ward (No. 21) also slipped away from the IUML’s control. In 2015, the young rebel ‘Computer’ Moideen won the seat, and in 2020, his wife, Shakeena Moideen, retained it.

During Monday’s protest, CPM leader Muhammad Haneefa alleged large-scale manipulation in the Fish Market ward, claiming that 400 new voter applications were received this time in a ward that had only around 500 voters in the first draft list. “After delimitation, Kasaragod now has 39 wards. Ward No. 38 has the largest population with 1,700 voters, and even there, only 11 new applications were filed,” he said. “So how did 400 applications come from a ward with just 500 voters? That needs to be investigated,” Haneefa said.

Rashid Poorannam, the IUML rebel likely to contest from the Fish Market ward this time, said around 200 names were added in the second draft list, pushing the total number of voters past 700. “Now, more applications are filed by people who are not residents of this ward,” he said.

Bogus voter row intensifies
In its complaint to the District Collector, the CPM accused the IUML of taking advantage of a renewed window for voter registration. The party alleged that over a hundred new voter applications were filed within two days in Ward No. 22 (Theruvath) and Ward No. 24 (Khaziline) -- both comfortably held by the IUML. Officials had earlier rejected many of these applications after field verification found the applicants were not residents of the municipality.

CPM leaders alleged that the League was “pressuring officials” to push through the same rejected names. “Applications for voter additions were invited three times, and across all three rounds, only about 11 were received in total in Ward 22. Suddenly, there are a hundred applications from the ward,” said Haneefa.

He said four of them have approached the high court to get their names included in the voters’ list of Ward No. 22. “When I looked at them, one of them was a resident of House No. 138 in Ward No. 7 (Chettumkuzhi) of Madhur Grama Panchayat. He wants to vote in Kasaragod municipality’s Theruvath (No. 22) because his sister’s husband will be the candidate there,” said Haneefa. “At a time when INDIA leader Rahul Gandhi is exposing vote chori across India, the Muslim League is doing in Kasaragod exactly what the BJP is doing across India,” the CPM leader said.

Haneefa then added a dose of threat. “If any official tries to help the IUML to add bogus voters… remember this is Kerala. The CPM is the biggest party here. Those who lick the boots of the League and push fake names will not walk on the streets,” he said. “You are sleeping peacefully in Kerala because of the CPM,” he said.

Calls made to IUML leader and Kasaragod municipal councillor Abbas Begum went unanswered.