A year ago, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan unleashed a bitter rhetoric against the Muslim League at the delegates meeting of the CPM, Alappuzha district conference. He was unsparing in his words, saying that the League has stooped to such pitiable lows that it was willing to ally with fundamentalist organisations like the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami. These days, Pinarayi Vijayan, who leads his party's campaign in the Assembly Polls 2026, is having trouble fielding questions on SDPI.

"Why can't CPM openly reject SDPI's support in the elections?". While other senior leaders find gentler ways of parrying this direct question, Pinarayi Vijayan has scowled at the posers, even walking away from a news conference and then returning with a prepared speech the next day in a different location.

The CPM has evident reasons to sour on any mention of deals with the BJP or the SDPI. Even with a glitzy advertisement spree on development and welfare, the CPM spent the first half of the campaign, scouring history to mount a defence against allegations of a deal with the BJP in various constituencies in Kerala. It had barely shaken off the impact when the party countered questions on SDPI's offer of support in Nemom. BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar has gone on an all-out campaign against CPM's V Sivankutty in such a way that it has rung alarm bells for the comrades.

The party is justified in welcoming votes from any source considering such circumstances; however, its reluctance to flag the fundamentalist side of the SDPI as it had done earlier is glaring. The CPM has been smart enough to decipher the consolidation of minorities, which severely dented its chances in the local body elections 2025. At the same time, the CPM is also aware of the erosion of Hindu Ezhava votes, which had always bolstered the party's prospects; a reason why Pinarayi Vijayan couldn't breathe a word against SNDP General Secretary, Vellappally Natesan, who has demonised the Muslim League with his communal rant.

This sense of uncertainty has put CPM in a position where it feels coaxed to accept whatever votes SDPI can muster. Electoral figures show that SDPI hasn't had much to show in terms of vote share. Between 2011 and 2021, the SDPI's highest vote share in total seats contested is 1.61%. In a decade, the vote share dropped from 1.61% to 1.24%. The number of seats it contested also came down from 80 to 40. The total votes it could secure in 2011 were 1.58 lakh, a paltry figure against 49.21 lakh votes polled by the CPM in the same year.

This time, the SDPI has fielded candidates in 36 constituencies across 11 districts. It withdrew the candidates from Manjeshwar and Mankada. In three constituencies, the LDF independents share the same symbol (scissors) as that of SDPI: Nilambur, Manjeri and Vengara. In Vengara and districts like Alappuzha, where the SDPI has a strong vote base, it hasn't fielded a candidate. Sabah Kundupuzhakkal, who was the SDPI candidate in Vengara in 2021, now contests as the LDF independent in the same seat.

P R Siyad, SDPI General Secretary, told Onmanorama that the party decided to focus on specific seats and hence the number was reduced. "Our choice of candidates was not based on any intentional move to field people against strong UDF candidates. The assembly polls happened soon after the local body elections, so the financial aspect was also a reason for the low number of candidates this time. We expect to increase our vote share," said Siyad.

SDPI has claimed that the CPM and V Sivankutty have sought support in Nemom. Pinarayi Vijayan has sternly refuted this. "The discussion was held among local leaders, hence it is fair on the part of the CPM to plead ignorance," Siyad said. The SDPI has openly declared support only in Nemom. The party will declare its support in the 104 constituencies after a state committee meeting.

Social commentator and political observer Damodar Prasad said that the CPM is confused over its pragmatic politics. "On one side, it has to woo the minority votes, and at the same time, it can't incur the wrath of the Hindu voters. In the process, CPM is open to taking whatever the SDPI has to offer. What is unfortunate is the party's hesitation to spell out SDPI's fundamentalist political stand. This doesn't augur well for the CPM. These deals with the BJP and the SDPI do not fit an all-Kerala narrative. They are region-specific. SDPI votes could be crucial in places where triangular contests are happening," said Prasad.