Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M] and the Congress on Monday accused each other of attempting to fragment the traditional Left Democratic Front (LDF)-United Democratic Front (UDF) duopoly in Kerala by covertly seeking to aid the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key Assembly constituencies in Kerala.
The Palakkad constituency has emerged as the focal point of the raging dispute playing out strongly in the campaign trial and on the airwaves. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that the CPI(M) had wilfully fielded N.M.R Razak, a hotelier, as the LDF’s independent candidate in Palakkad to aid BJP’s Sobha Surendran by seeking to split minority votes that traditionally hew to the UDF. Ms Surendran has dismissed the accusation as a sign of panic in the UDF camp.
Tip of iceberg
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala stated that Palakkad was merely the tip of the iceberg. “In Ettumanur, the BJP nudged Twenty20, a recent National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partner, to field puppet candidates who did not even figure in the voters’ list to aid the LDF. The CPI(M) has struck an illicit pact with the BJP in more than 10 constituencies where the UDF has a chance of winning. BJP’s oath to rid India of Congress dovetails with the CPI(M)’s aim to keep the UDF out of power permanently in Kerala”, he said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan pushed back by targeting the Congress’s national leadership, notably singling out Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament, Rahu Gandhi, for criticism. Addressing a press conference in Pathanamthitta he said the Congress under Mr. Gandhi’s stewardship had abetted the BJP’s win in the Delhi elections by fielding candidates against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), despite having no chance of winning “even a single seat”.
Mr. Vijayan said Congress adopted a comparable self-defeating strategy in the Haryana Assembly elections, undermining the national alliance against the BJP. “When the BJP arrested Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on trumped-up charges, Congress workers burst crackers. The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the charges is more of a slap on the face of the Congress than that of the BJP”, he said.
CPI(M) leader A.K. Balan accused the Congress of seeking to imbue the Palakkad campaign with a communal colour, given that the LDF independent is a Muslim, to consolidate votes of the Hindu community in favour of the UDF candidate, Ramesh Pisharody. AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had found a willing tool in Mr. Vijayan to attack Mr. Gandhi, who is fighting a lone battle against the Sangh Parivar and its corporate backers.
Published – March 23, 2026 04:55 pm IST
