In politics, loyalty is often treated as a mere strategic currency, not a moral imperative. Here, personal and opportunistic interests matter over ideologies and principles. Yet, what’s happening in Kerala does evoke surprise. In a state where politics is ubiquitous in every sphere of life, ideological boundaries are crumbling fast and politicians are moving parties more freely than ever. The ‘Aya Ram, gaya Ram’ culture that defined politics elsewhere seems to have made decisive inroads into Kerala, too.
What’s significant is the mass exodus of leaders from the two deeply ideological communist parties—CPI(M) and CPI—to contest under the banner of the Congress-led UDF or the BJP-led NDA. As many as seven senior leaders of the CPI(M)-led LDF, including sitting and former MLAs, have shifted loyalties. Ironically, it’s in the communist citadel of Kannur that the CPI(M) is facing its biggest crisis, having lost two senior leaders with considerable support bases. Both are contesting this time with the Congress’s support and pose a serious threat to CPI(M)’s hegemony in the Malabar region.
Elsewhere, G Sudhakaran, a former minister, has parted ways with the CPI(M) to contest as a Congress-backed independent in Ambalapuzha. P K Sasi in Ottapalam and Aisha Potty in Kottarakkara are other senior leaders who will fight against their former party. S Rajendran, a former CPI(M) legislator, is the BJP candidate for Devikulam, marking a stark ideological shift. Sitting legislator C C Mukundan and former MLA K Ajith have been fielded by the BJP in Nattika and Vaikom, respectively, after their shift from the CPI.
There have been desertions from the Congress and BJP ranks too, underlining the all-round blurring of ideological lines and rise of opportunistic tendencies driven by a desire for power. It’s not that Kerala politics has not witnessed defections in the past, but it has never been on this scale. One thing is evident amid all the changes—the communist fortress is showing cracks, undermined by a gradual but clear erosion of ideology and identity.
As transactional calculations are looming larger, the politics of ambition is stamping its authority over the politics of principles. This assembly election will go down in history as one that made every party in Kerala look just like the others.