Solidarity for Rahul does not translate into CPI(M)-Congress bonhomie in Kerala

The expulsion of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha might have prompted Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] to find a proximate cause against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the national level.

Nevertheless, the affability in New Delhi has not translated into any cessation of hostilities between the two parties in Kerala if Saturday’s sniping between the rivals is any indication.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan called for mustering public opinion against the Centre’s ‘targeting’ of Opposition leaders. He said the CPI(M) would knock on doors to stir up democratic resistance against the BJP’s ‘authoritarian tendencies,’ manifesting in Mr. Gandhi’s expulsion from the Parliament.

‘Soft Hindutva’

Nevertheless, Mr. Govindan distanced the CPI(M) in Kerala from the Congress, perhaps for political expediency, by stating that the main Opposition party in the State pursued a ‘soft Hindutva’ line and economic neo-liberalism comparable in some measure to BJP’s political tack.

He stressed the CPI(M) would not shy away from a fight with Congress in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency represented by Mr. Gandhi, seemingly drawing a clear political boundary between the opposing fronts.

In a related FB post, Mr. Govindan decried the Centre’s ‘subversion’ of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to target non-BJP-ruled States and political opponents.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan publicly doubted the CPI(M) ‘s professed antagonism to the BJP’s ‘fascist inclinations’.

‘Assault’ on Youth Congress

He said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Mr. Govindan merely lip-synced their ‘doubtful’ opposition to the Sangh Parivar to television cameras. “In reality, the government unleashed the police against Youth Congress workers protesting against Mr. Gandhi’s expulsion to humour the BJP,” Mr. Satheesan said.

The Congress and the CPI(M) seem compelled to step up their sparring in Kerala for now, possibly to prevent the BJP’s narrative that they were allies in reality, as was seen in the Tripura Assembly polls, from gaining ground. The parties seemed keen to prevent the BJP from ‘usurping’ the opposition’s ‘moral and political’ role in Kerala.