Even the most optimistic comrade may be sceptical of harvesting electoral gains from the union of NSS and SNDP, Kerala's two foremost Hindu organisations. Still, the CPM seems to derive a sense of delight from the brotherhood on display. It is almost like the party took great pains to forge the bond. The CPM did manage to woo both the community leaders, G Sukumaran Nair and Vellappally Natesan, for the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, a government initiative, to heal bruised sentiments of Ayyappa devotees.

On the surface, it looks like CPM has suddenly found a remedy for an ailment that has gnawed away at its vote bank -- erosion of Ezhava votes. After an embarrassing loss in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, CPM brainstormed for five days to arrive at two key factors that led to its defeat -- consolidation of minorities and a leakage in Ezhava votes.

In Alappuzha, a stronghold of Ezhava voters, CPM's vote share plummeted by 8.47 percentage points between the 2019 and 2024 general elections. If the SNDP and the NSS unite, it could mean ensuring Ezhava votes and Hindu votes, which could easily neutralise the minority consolidation in the Assembly elections, which had debilitated the CPM of late in the local body elections and Assembly bypolls. Deep inside, the CPM knows, it is not as simple as it seems.

A compilation of figures from the Kerala migration survey published in a study by demographer K C Zachariah shows that in 2011, Ezhavas accounted for 21.6% of the population, while Nairs held 11.9% share in Kerala. According to political scientists and demographers, a projection would put present figures at 25% for Ezhavas and 13% for Nairs.

"Given these numbers, a good percentage of both these communities do not vote by what their leaders say. They don't hold much sway over the members. That's why it is a dangerous ploy for the CPM to expect that NSS-SNDP union will be advantageous for the party," said political scientist G Gopakumar.

It may not be the votes CPM hopes for. Even while directing Minister Saji Cherian to retract a communal statement and reiterating that the party will not side with communalism, Vellappally Natesan's bitter-mouthed outbursts have been an anomaly. There seems to be a reason why the CPM looks the other way when Vellappally spews inflammatory remarks. Besides the Muslim League, he also guns for Opposition Leader V D Satheesan.

The CPM had been stretching full length to taint Satheesan's moral stand and secular image. Recently, the party tried to kick up Punarjani housing row, hoping to spill dirt on Satheesan. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau closed the file, saying there was nothing they could do, and recommended forwarding it to national agencies. Natesan has taken up the job for the CPM to badmouth Satheesan. Even Sukumaran Nair was harshly critical of Satheesan, but later clarified that the union with the SNDP was not against Satheesan or anyone.

While doing so, the CPM hopes to sow doubts in the minds of other Congress leaders who nurture ambitions of becoming the state's Chief Minister if the Congress comes to power. Any such suspicion could spark an infighting and cause chinks in the unity being projected. If the rift widens, votes could drift to the advantage of the CPM.

The Congress has been smart enough so far to sense the trap. Ramesh Chennithala, who has always enjoyed a closeness to the NSS, and K Muraleedharan have backed Satheesan. Other leaders have been measured in their response to Vellappally's relentless onslaught.

All these while, the CPM has also done its bit to blemish Satheesan's secular credentials. His remarks targeting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the conclusion of 'Kerala Yatra' by the Kerala Muslim Jamaat, his visit to the Syro Malabar headquarters, have provided fodder for CPM's critique. At the valedictory conference of the 'Kerala Yatra', Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Satheesan got into an exchange of words. When Pinarayi spoke of riots and stressed need for a stern stand to avoid them, Satheesan quipped that one should not speak secularism and then welcome those who spread communal hatred, hinting at Pinarayi being mute to Vellappally's remarks targeting Muslims. 

The CPM is also digging into the past, scooping up photographs of Satheesan lighting the lamp at the birth centenary celebrations of RSS founder Golwalkar at Paravur in 2006 and releasing a book at a function organised by Bharatiya Vicharakendram in 2013. Even the CPM now finds merit in words of its adversaries. Hindu Aikya Vedi leader R V Babu's statement that Satheesan reportedly sought their support in 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections have gained repeat value for the CPM.

George Pulikkan, journalist and political commentator, said CPM is being foolish in its promotion of NSS-SNDP unity. "Nothing good will come out of it. If they think it could be used against their main opponents, they are living a fool's dream," he said. The political observers said that while going hard at Satheesan, the CPM is anointing him with its own legacy. The reference is to 1987 elections when EMS stayed away from all communal allies and faced elections to secure a historic mandate. The LDF, which comprised CPM, CPI, Janata, Congress (S), RSP and Lokdal, won 75 seats in the elections. Before the polls, EMS had parted ways with the AIML( a splinter group of the IUML).

In an article, former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat wrote about EMS. "The 1987 Assembly elections saw EMS  conducting an intensive campaign, posing the basic question before the people of Kerala that caste and communal politics should become an anachronism and should find no place in modern democratic Kerala society".

In its desperation to win over Hindu votes, the CPM contradicts not just EMS. In June 2013, then Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan decried NSS-SNDP union at the inauguration of SNDP building in Thiruvananthapuram. He said that those who make opportunistic use of such unions are playing with fire. Natesan was quick to retort, saying that Achuthanandan was first an Ezhava and then a Communist.