At a time when 'hindutva fascism' is on the rise in the country, the definitions of 'Left' and the 'ruling class' seem to be in a state of flux.  

Writer Ashokan Charuvil offered perhaps the most curious definition. "Anyone standing with the ruling class is right-wing. And those who oppose are the Left," Charuvil said at Manorama Hortus on Friday while speaking at the session 'Not Right Not Left Not even Middle: The Writer's Space'. 

If it is 'right' to be supporting the ruling class, then can Charuvil, a writer closely associated with the ruling CPM in Kerala, also be called 'right wing'? "It is unfortunate that this local power of the Left is even considered as power," Charuvil said. "Power in local bodies or even in a state is not power at all. Don't misunderstand the true nature of power," he said. 

Nonetheless, he said that the LDF government would cease to exist if it implemented the policies of the right-wing centre.

On the other hand, poet and novelist Kalpetta Narayanan, who had been critical of the LDF government's policies, said that he had never said anything in life that was anti-Left. Unlike Charuvil, he did not see any difference between the Pinarayi and Modi dispensations. Meaning, his criticism of Pinarayi's rule is a progressive Left action.

"Both are equally fascist governments," Kalpetta said. "Now, it is Rahul Gandhi who is engaged in Left activity," he said, referring to the researched 'vote chori' charges Rahul has been consistently raising. 

Kalpetta did not want the label Left confined to just parties officially known as the Left. He broadened the idea of the Left to mean secularists and those working for the oppressed. "Ambedkar, Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are all Left," Kalpetta said.

He said the agenda of the genuine Left should be to demonstrate that what was impossible in other parts of the country could be made possible in Kerala. The implication was that the LDF government in Kerala, instead of fighting the Hindutva fascists, were surrendering to their interests. "How can the Left and the BJP speak the same language," he said. 

Kalpetta wondered how the CPM could conduct Ayyappa Sangamam. "Temples belong to a pre-Renaissance era. Are they trying to usher in ideas vanquished by the reform movement into the modern world," he said.

Charuvil even bypassed a specific question on Vellapally Natesan by anchor Manila C Mohan. She wanted to know how a person who was once branded as Kerala Togadia by Pinarayi Vijayan could be acceptable to the Left even after spewing the ugliest form of toxic communalism. "I am not going to fall into your trap," is all he said and then blamed Congress for the rise of Hindutva fascism.

In a sense, writer T D Ramakrishnan echoed Charuvil's sentiment. "The 10 years of the UPA rule were instrumental in the rise of the Hindutva forces. If they had been alert, the country would not have seen the rise of the Modi," he said.

Ramakrishnan did not join the Left-Right debate but said that there should be space for debate. "There are points where my personal opinions could clash with the general public opinion. Through my writings, I am attempting to create a ground for discourse," he said.