In Kerala, Rahul goes hammer and tongs against Left

Five years ago, on April 4, 2019, after filing a nomination from Wayanad for the first time, Rahul Gandhi, then the Congress president, pledged not to utter a single word against his political opponents in Kerala, the Left parties.

“The CPI(M) and the Congress have been locked in a fight in Kerala. This will go on. I understand that the CPI(M) has to fight me. But I am not going to say a word against them. I am here to send a message of unity that south India is important, and I fully understand that the CPI(M) has to attack me,” he had said.

Rahul, then and now

Then there was neither an INDIA bloc nor a formal pre-poll arrangement between the Congress and the CPI(M) apart from regional adjustments. Rahul Gandhi not only won that Lok Sabha election by a record margin but his alliance swept 19 of the 20 parliamentary seats from Kerala.

Five years later, Rahul Gandhi is again contesting from Wayanad despite a pre-poll understanding with the Left parties outside Kerala under the INDIA umbrella. Now, he faces a much more formidable opponent in Annie Raja of the CPI, who is another notable face of the alliance.

Rahul attacks Pinarayi

This time, however, he launched a scathing attack on Kerala's Left parties and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in particular, which seemed to be totally uncharacteristic of him.

“I am attacking the BJP 24x7, and the chief minister of Kerala is attacking me all the time. I am fighting the BJP and the RSS, I have an ideological difference with them, and there is a cost for it. If you fight an ideological battle against the BJP, the BJP will attack you with everything they've got. I have repeatedly been attacked; two sitting chief ministers have been jailed -- why is the Kerala CM unscathed? The people of Kerala, and India know who stands to protect the democratic nature of our country and who doesn't,” Rahul Gandhi told an election public meeting at Palakkad.

CM hits back

A furious Pinarayi Vijayan retaliated strongly against Rahul Gandhi.

"Even his grandmother's actions couldn't break my resolve during the Emergency as I spent one-and-a- half years in jail without yielding,” he said, referring to the late Indira Gandhi. “No amount of pressure from central agencies or threats of imprisonment can intimidate us."

UDF aggression

Rahul Gandhi spoke out at a time when Congress and its United Democratic Front (UDF) intensified their criticism of the Left, especially the CPI(M) and Pinarayi Vijayan.

They allege a secretive alliance between the Left and the BJP to avoid the investigation of central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate. This comes amid efforts to court minority voters, potentially a decisive factor in Kerala's politics.

Left and Hindutva

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has taken firm positions on issues ranging from the CAA-NRC and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to the Ram temple in Ayodhya and even the Israeli attack on Gaza. The Congress initially hesitated or delayed its response, leading to a growing pro-Left sentiment among grassroots Muslim communities.

On the surface, some Muslim organisations have extended support to the UDF, including Welfare Party led by the Jamaate Islami and the SDPI, the political arm of the proscribed Popular Front of India, a support the UDF refused to accept, after an afterthought which took a couple of days.

Muslim resentment

However, at the grassroots level, there is growing resentment and disappointment toward the Congress, especially in certain pockets, primarily due to the party’s perceived lack of decisiveness in addressing crucial issues and the defection of some of their leaders to the BJP.

“It's a fact that this time around, I don't feel the same enthusiasm to support Rahul Gandhi as I did in 2019. This time, I'm more inclined towards electing Left MPs to Parliament for a specific reason,” says wrote Basheer Vallikkunnu a popular NRI blogger who had been a supporter of the Congress and the UDF for long.

Left MP vs UDF MPs

“It's crucial that, in these challenging times, the voices of the victims are heard in Parliament. The MPs we elected last time were mostly ineffective, except for one or two,” he added.

According to him, John Brittas, the CPI(M) member in the Rajya Sabha, alone made a significant impact compared to the 19 UDF members in the Lok Sabha.

Congress weakness

“The Congress disappointed us over the past five years. They were perceived to be capitulating to the BJP, eager to join them. In contrast, CPI(M) leaders were at the forefront opposing various issues such as the bulldozer Raj, CAA, Ram temple and the Israel issue,” said Vallikkunnu.

Grassroot resonance

“Now, their leaders are calling for the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan by central agencies. It's disheartening to see that they also demanded the arrest of (Arvind) Kejriwal in the initial stages of the bar license case,” added Vallikkunnu.

His words resonate exactly what the LDF has been campaigning throughout this election. That seems to be working a bit at the grassroot level.

Muslim groups

The most worrisome factor for the UDF is that the prominent Sunni organisation in Kerala like the Samasta Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema, who are traditionally UDF supporters softening its stance towards the communists.

To counter this situation, the UDF is actively bringing up instances where the LDF appears to have acted against the interests of the minority community, and they are emphasizing these issues vigorously.

UDF activists, especially in northern Kerala, have received specific instructions to focus on this aspect towards the end of the election campaign.

Congress strategy

The political discourse has intensified as the UDF and Congress strategize to castigate the CPI(M) and Chief Minister Vijayan, linking them with the BJP, with the objective of bolstering support from minority communities. Not only Rahul Gandhi, but Karnataka's deputy chief minister DK Sivakumar and Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy are actively engaged in this narrative.

“Pinarayi Vijayan is the unappointed working president of the BJP here (Kerala). He and his family are even involved in the gold smuggling case. But why are the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department not touching Pinarayi?” Reddy asked.

CPI(M)’s counter

The CPI(M) leaders have hit back, even raking up the report of Robert Vadra’s company donating election bonds to the BJP.

“It's ironic that Revanth Reddy, who portrays himself as (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi's younger brother and is reportedly contemplating switching sides in Telangana, is now accusing Pinarayi Vijayan of colluding with the BJP,” said PM Arsho, the state secretary of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the CPI(M) wing.

When Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary membership was revoked, it was the CPI(M) that took to the streets first. “However, now he is advocating for the central agencies to arrest Pinarayi Vijayan. It's disheartening to witness a Congress leader, who should be standing firm against the BJP, stooping to such levels by demanding the arrest of Left leaders by the BJP, solely for political gains,” remarked KV Abdul Khader, a CPI(M) leader, to The Federal.

National-level sources within the Congress suggest that Rahul Gandhi may have decided to align with the party's state leadership, considering the final inputs he has gathered from the grassroots.

A senior Congress leader, speaking over the phone, remarked that the situation in Kerala should be viewed with a different perspective. According to the leader, the state leadership had persistently urged Rahul Gandhi to adopt a more aggressive stance against the CPI(M) but he had been contemplating the broader implications.

However, the leader suggested that it seems inevitable for Congress to take a more confrontational approach, lest they suffer setbacks in Kerala. It's possible that Rahul Gandhi has succumbed to this pressure.