'Let UDF reject Jamaat-e-Islami, then we will respond on SDPI,' says M V Govindan

The CPM has once again failed to clarify whether it would welcome SDPI votes, with its state secretary, MV Govindan, deflecting questions by putting off the LDF's response until the UDF turns down Jamaat-e-Islami backing.

Earlier, the Welfare Party of India (WPI), the political wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), had pledged its support to UDF candidates. Meanwhile, the Left has been under attack since the SDPI backed the LDF's Nemon candidate, V Sivankutty, noting that the constituency is an NDA stronghold.

"You agree that the Jamaat-e-Islami's vote is communal, but the UDF has not said that they don't want it," Govindan questioned the media. He then challenged the Congress to say that they do not want the Jamaat-e-Islami's votes and held that the LDF would state its stance on the SDPI once they do so.

"The UDF should not just turn down SDPI votes, but also Jamaat-e-Islami support," Govindan demanded.

"We have a clear stance identifying communal parties, extremist groups and democratic bodies as such," he said when asked whether the LDF identifies the SDPI as a communal party. However, he did not elaborate on which of the above categorisations were allotted to the SDPI.

The party has maintained an ambiguous stance, with questions about the SDPI drawing sharp reactions from its leadership. On Sunday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lost his temper at a journalist when asked about the party's SDPI links. He said he was not bound to respond repeatedly, saying he had already clarified the front’s stand against communal forces.

Meanwhile, Sivankutty had vocalised his stance, saying he would not decline votes from any group, as doing so would be undemocratic.

However, Pinarayi was quick to clarify that neither the CPM nor Sivankutty had sought the group's support, a claim made by the SDPI. 

"This is absolutely baseless. We have never made such a request," Pinarayi said about the SDPI claim that Sivankutty and the party had sought its support in Nemom. He was talking to reporters at AKG Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.

"We know that people will make practical choices based on the peculiarities of a constituency," the CM said, alluding to the BJP’s strong presence in Nemom. "But we have not sought the support of any such groups that are not part of the LDF. Sivankutty, too, has not directly sought any support," he said.

However, the media's demands for a more explicit response provoked an irritated response from the CM. "Why can't you, like CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam, unambiguously say that we don't want the vote of communal elements?" he was asked. "Next time I will get my words written by him," Pinarayi said.