KOZHIKODE : The electoral swing of the Muslim community – which constitutes about 30 per cent of Kerala’s population – will be one of the deciding factors in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state and, understandably, LDF and UDF have been frantically wooing the community.
The latest speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that appeared to directly target Muslims have intensified the uneasiness within the community, and both the fronts are striving to capitalise on this.
On Wednesday, the LDF published two advertisements in the Suprabhatham daily, the official mouthpiece of the EK faction of Sunnis that is considered as the biggest Muslim organisation in Kerala. The ads tried to project the Left as the protector of the minorities against the Sangh Parivar attacks. Similar ads appeared in Siraj, the official publication of the rival AP group of Sunnis, as well.
Meanwhile, the Congress is confident that Modi’s attack on the party for doling out benefits to Muslims will work to its advantage in Kerala, even as it may have a different impact in other parts of the country. The party believes Priyanka Gandhi’s impassioned response to Modi, and Mallikarjun Kharge’s rebuttal of the PM’s charges will resonate with the Muslim community.
During its campaign, the UDF pointed out the acquittal of RSS workers in the Riyas Moulavi murder case as an example of the LDF government going soft on the Sangh Parivar. The front juxtaposed it with the RSS leader Ranjith Sreenivasan murder case, in which SDPI workers were given capital punishment.
On the other side, right from the beginning of the campaign, the CPM went all out to ‘expose’ the ‘insincerity’ of the Congress in handling issues related to Muslims, especially the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – which remained at the core of the LDF campaign till the final day. The absence of the reference to CAA in the Congress manifesto was highlighted as an example of the party’s deceit.
The Congress’s refusal to yield an additional seat to the IUML, along with its ‘direction’ to avoid using the party’s green flag at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s rallies, also served as ammo for the CPM. Though there was a strong resentment among the IUML cadre over these issues, party leadership swiftly contained it from boiling over and affecting the UDF’s poll prospects.
Political observers believe the individual calibre of the candidates would play a great role in deciding the poll outcome. “This time, the Muslim community may not give a blanket support to any front as it did in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls,” said writer Mujeeb Rehman Kinaloor.
“The community may prefer candidates who have a proven track record in fighting the Sangh Parivar. I believe the preference will be for those who performed well in the House, and those who can forcefully speak against the onslaughts on democracy and secularism.”
Ashraf Kadakkal, assistant professor at Kerala University, also shared the same sentiment. “There is a feeling among the community that several of the MPs elected from Kerala in 2019 didn’t rise to the occasion when crucial issues were discussed in Lok Sabha,” he noted.
“At the same time, the performance of Left MPs such as John Brittas (Rajya Sabha) was widely appreciated in the community. Many in the community believe that strong persons who can influence the course of debates should be elected to the Lok Sabha.”
One thing is clear: the Muslim community is set to vote with a vengeance.
Notably, the community was upset with the Election Commission choosing a Friday as the day of polling in Kerala and some other states. Some Muslim leaders had approached the Commission with a plea to change the schedule, as the community’s Friday prayers could affect polling.
When those efforts failed, they put in place alternative measures to ensure that voting of the community members would not get affected in the ‘crucial election’. Some leaders have exhorted believers to skip the Friday juma to cast their votes if there is no other choice.
