Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s comments come against the backdrop of criticism levelled by UDF leaders and others, highlighting the reported support given by the JIH and WPI to LDF candidates in previous elections. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has claimed that neither the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] nor the Left Democratic Front (LDF) have given any “good certificate” to the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) and its political arm, the Welfare Party of India (WPI).
Addressing the media in Kozhikode on Sunday (December 7, 2025), Mr. Vijayan stated that it was true he had met with the functionaries of the JIH at the party’s state committee office in Thiruvananthapuram earlier.
The discussions revolved around certain problems faced by that organisation. “We were fully aware that the JIH is a communal organisation. During the course of the meeting, when I was introduced to the leaders of the Solidarity Youth Movement, its youth wing, I told them on their face that you are an anti-social organisation that stands against the welfare of the people,” Mr. Vijayan said.
“Nobody should try to cleanse the JIH. It has never changed its religious fundamentalist political line. Genuine religious believers are opposed to its views,” he added.
The Chief Minister’s comments come against the backdrop of criticism levelled by leaders of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and others, highlighting the reported support given by the JIH and WPI to LDF candidates in previous elections, as well as the meetings between their leaders and CPI(M) functionaries. This follows the CPI(M)’s criticism of the WPI’s tactical tie-up with the UDF for the upcoming local body polls.
Mr. Vijayan, meanwhile, also alleged that the UDF government led by Oommen Chandy had sought to ban the JIH in 2014, calling it an anti-national organisation under surveillance. The UDF had made its stand clear in an affidavit submitted in the Kerala High Court. He said that the same UDF was now in an “alliance” with the WPI for the local body polls. Mr. Vijayan also claimed that the Congress-led Union government had also banned the JIH in 1992. “That organisation was compelled to support the LDF in the 1996 to register its protest against the Congress,” Mr. Vijayan said.
He accused the Indian Union Muslim League of succumbing to the leadership of the JIH.
The State CM accepted the challenge posed by K.C. Venugopal, Alappuzha MP, on a debate over the performance of the UDF MPs from Kerala. He also alleged that N.K. Premachandran, Kollam MP, and M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, had tried to put the State in trouble by asking in the Lok Sabha if beneficiaries under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme would continue to get their benefits since Kerala had declared itself free from extreme poverty.
Some sections also unleashed a propaganda that six lakh people would be thrown out of the scheme. However, the Centre later clarified that there would not be any change in the status of the beneficiaries, Mr. Vijayan added.
Published – December 07, 2025 03:25 pm IST
