The Congress in Kerala is now facing a new challenge. The oldest party, always targeted to be a party “controlled by minority communities” in the state, is now under attack for projecting its “Hindu face”.
Captured the top leader of Congress and Wayanad MP Rahul GandhiVeena and her recent remarks on the topic “Hindu vs Hindutva” such as “this is a country of Hindus, not Hindutvawadis”, the CPI(M) has gone after the Congress, calling it “to expose its Hindu credentials”. “And ignoring minorities.
CPI(M) state secretary and politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has trained the ruling party’s gun on the major opposition party on the issue. Addressing several party conventions in different districts over the past week, he accused the Congress of marginalizing minorities based on “Rahul’s view that Hindus should rule the country”.
Balakrishnan maintained a standard line of attack at these conventions. “Senior Congress leaders from minority communities like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Salman Khurshid and KV Thomas have now been sidelined in the Congress. In Kerala too, the Congress has shunned its practice of giving minorities their fair share in party leadership positions. The party ensured a minority presence under its leadership as part of its secular politics. Now the Congress has changed that practice, which is against its declared secular stand.
The CPI(M)’s attack on the Congress seems to have fueled the current face of the latter’s leadership in the state. Over the past four decades, leaders from minority communities such as AK Antony and Oommen Chandy dominated the Congress leadership in the organization or the legislature party/government. When the party impressed off the guard last year, it appointed K Sudhakaran as the president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and VD Satheesan as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly. Both belong to the majority Hindu community, with Sudhakaran from the backward Ezhava caste and Satheesan from the upper caste Nair community.
The CPI(M), referred to as the “Hindu Party” in Kerala, had always bullied the Congress for being a party where “minorities are shot”. The inclusion of regional Christian party Kerala Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the high-profile roles traditionally played in UDF affairs also reinforced such perceptions. and fee.
Criticizing the Congress’s alleged attempt to ignore minorities at the altar of majoritarian politics, the CPI(M) is aiming to further weaken the former’s support base in Kerala. In the state assembly elections held in April last year, an unprecedented turnaround of minority votes helped the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) retain power. If Muslims get in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan then a strong shield against them BJPChristians also moved to the CPI(M) as they wanted to stop the IUML from being controlled by the UDF.
The CPI(M) has tried to play the role of the Congress’s alleged neglect of minority communities at a time when minority politics is at a crossroads, enabling the former to expand its base to capitalize on the perceived plight of minorities.
Oommen Chandy’s exit from the Congress leadership and the dissolution of various factions of the Kerala Congress, especially after the death of Christian political satrap KM Mani in April 2019, left a void in Christian politics, while leading to further isolation of the community. . from Congress. In October 2020, a major faction of the Kerala Congress (M) led by Mani’s son Jose K Mani joined the LDF and is now part of the LDF government.
Just ahead of the assembly elections, the Congress brought back Chandy as its campaign committee chairman, but it could not help prevent erosion of its vote base in central Kerala, which has a large Christian population.
On the other side of minority politics, the Congress and IUML suffered another setback when the CPI(M) recently managed to win the trust of the Samastha Kerala Jamiatul Ulema, a body of prominent Muslim clerics, popularly known as Samastha. Because the Vijayan government had ascended. Submitted its decision to hand over the Waqf Board appointments to the Public Service Commission (PSC) after discussions with Samasta leaders.
While the IUML wanted a large-scale Muslim protest against the LDF government on the matter, Samastha backed out, deferring the agitation. This has also helped the CPI(M) to dent IUML’s vote bank among Sunni Muslims in the state.
The Congress hit back at the Left, alleging that the CPI(M) was spreading communalism. “Let the CPI(M) introspect whether that party has brought a minority face to the leadership of the party or the government. The CPI(M) is trying to woo the minorities by twisting the words of Rahul Gandhi, who had said that India is a country of Hindus, not Hindutvawadis. CPI(M) is trying to divide the society. In Kerala, the Congress has included leaders and workers of all communities. Our party enjoys the support of all sections of people.
Behind the CPI(M)’s attack on marginalizing minorities, the Congress sees an agenda to promote a young Muslim CPI(M) face Mohammad Riyas, CM Vijayan’s son-in-law, as its next CM candidate. It is another matter that the Congress does not have any prominent Muslim face in its state leadership.
Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan claimed that Balakrishnan’s attack on the Congress to project Riyas as the next CM candidate is part of a larger agenda of the CPI(M). “The CPI(M) had never made a minority face of its party as state secretary or CM. Now, they want to project Riyas for the post of CM candidate of the next party. But it should not be at the cost of Congress.
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