Cong’s ‘deal’ blow is an ordeal for CPM & BJP

The CPM has every reason to get worked up over the allegations of a tacit understanding with the BJP in the Kerala assembly polls. For a change, it toned down the rant against Jamaat-e-Islami. Instead, it chose development and welfare as the catchwords. The CPM had played the saviour act to perfection in 2021, when the voters were racked by the pandemic. If the party celebrated resilience then, this time it was supposed to be resurgence.

Any remote association with the BJP was the last thing CPM wanted ahead of the elections. Then, the Congress hit the LDF with allegations of a secret deal with the BJP in different constituencies. The CPM was ill-prepared for the ambush. A few days ago, the CPM had watched in delight the Congress in a state of abject disarray over finalising candidates. It seemed like the flight would crash no sooner than it had taken off.

What was claimed to be a 24-hour exercise ran for 72 hours, with speculations flying over MPs expressing a wish to contest and K Sudhakaran MP threatening to quit. The CPM had not anticipated the Congress to regroup as quickly as it has done now.

The Congress has listed down as many as 13 constituencies where a 'deal' is confirmed. By doing so, the Congress has managed to pivot the attention from its own scars of a chaotic seat division and has kept the CPM busy defending allegations of ‘deal’ while it should be flaunting its excellent governance. In one single stroke, it could also taint the BJP's tagline for the election -- the CPM and Congress are not two, but one.

BJP, which had identified over 10 constituencies with high winning probability, is now facing serious questions over why it ceded seats like Ranni, Konni, Thripunithura and Kodungallur to its allies BDJS and Twenty20. The BJP had built a sizeable vote share in these constituencies in the previous polls and recently held local body elections. Also its senior leaders, B Gopalakrishnan and Kummanam Rajasekharan, were included in the candidates' list only after internal protests.

The theories of RSS-Pinarayi nexus, though seemingly wild, had always made the CPM squirm. The party had a hard time defending its stand after it was alleged that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan didn't even admonish ADGP M R Ajith Kumar who had furtively held meetings with the RSS leaders and was accused of disrupting Thrissur pooram. The Congress had earlier bombarded the government with statements that CPM-BJP deal handed BJP its first Lok Sabha MP in Thrissur -- Suresh Gopi.

The CPM had thought it could put such vague allegations to rest. It even started well on a combative note. When PWD minister Mohammed Riyas was not invited for the inaugural function of NH projects attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, the CPM was not the least enthused. The Chief Minister along with two ministers, who were invitees, skipped the event in protest. It was clear that the CPM wouldn't part with the glory over development by any measure.

With barely two weeks left for the election, the CPM has been forced to realign the campaign strategy. Along with answering why it fielded a Muslim candidate as the LDF independent in Palakkad, it is digging up history from the 1960s and quoting national politics to put up a defence.

In 1960, EMS Namboodiripad, then a CPI candidate, won from Pattambi. CPM alleges that his opponent A Raghavan Nair was jointly fielded by the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the political precursor to the BJP and the Congress. In 1970 general elections, CPM candidate A K Gopalan was up against T C Govindan in Palakkad.

He was an independent candidate supported by the United Front comprising the Indira Congress, CPI, Muslim League, PSP, RSP, Nijalingappa Congress, Jana Sangh, Swathantra Party and four other parties known as the Socialist group. The party had moved AKG from Kasaragod to Palakkad dreading a defeat and he ended up dealing with an independent carrying support of a bevy of political parties. Still, AKG won by a comfortable margin of 52,266 votes.

The CPM, however, faced similar allegations later. In 1977, Pinarayi Vijayan defeated RSP's Abdul Kadar by 4401 votes in Kuthuparamba, reportedly with the support of the Jan Sangh. "There was a strong pro-Emergency wave and the CPM and the RSS then shared common sentiments to combat that factor and the Sangh lent its support in elections," said G Gopakumar, a political scientist.

On Thursday, when Pinarayi Vijayan posted an old picture of Opposition leader V D Satheesan lighting the lamp at the birth centenary celebrations of RSS founder Golwalkar at Paravur in 2006 and quipped what this 'deal' was about, Satheesan hit back with the 1977 episode. Recently, when the CPM had almost engineered an NSS-SNDP understanding, the party had gone about circulating the same photos and Hindu Aikya Vedi leader R V Babu's statement that Satheesan reportedly sought their support in 2001 and 2006 Assembly elections.

The CPM has been keen on recounting the Co-Le-B pact in 1991. In BJP leader K G Marar's biography, a chapter titled 'foiled experiment' explains how the UDF had agreed to support the BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections. All the candidates lost the elections and author Kunjikannan notes that BJP learnt the hard lesson that no pact made just ahead of polls would be fruitful and no friendship shall be entertained with those who don't rub shoulders.

Political observers like Gopakumar said that Satheesan's deal salvo could be a master stroke. "In 2021, it was Pinarayi's mass dialogue that CPM would close BJP's account in Nemom, which stirred the anti-BJP sentiment. This time, Satheesan outdid Pinarayi. All the Congress leaders have been persistently raising the 'deal' factor, forcing CPM to go on the defensive. This persistence could possibly lead to minority consolidation and unsettle the campaign of the BJP and the CPM," said Gopakumar.