Despite being allies at the national level, the CPI (M), which heads the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala, and the Congress party, like two sides of a same coin, does not see eye to eye.
In a column in the CPI (M) mouthpiece Deshabhimani on Saturday, Kerala Law Minister P Rajeeve argues only Left parties can be trusted, more than any in India, when it comes to fighting the BJP. "It is the Left parties that have consistently taken a stand against communal politics," he claims.
For instance, he adds, when the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed, it was the LDF government in Kerala that first announced that they would not implement it. CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury was the first to head to Kashmir when when Article 370 was abrogated and the people's representatives were put under house arrest. He was not allowed to leave the airport in Srinagar. Subsequently, CPI (M) was the first to approach the Supreme Court. The Congress party was nowhere on the scene initially. The Congress did not even respond at that time to the announcement of the Uniform Civil Code. It was the left wing that first took a strong stand in the country, he said.
Pointing to the recent defection of Congress leaders to the BJP, he argues that Kerala's secular community need not take a chance with the Congress since their leaders can join the BJP anytime.
He said that what voters will discern by Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as a lack of confidence in the INDIA bloc.
"Secular parties would generally take a stand to fight the BJP unitedly. They would also prefer the opposition parties to come together to field a common candidate in almost all the seats where the BJP has influence. However, in states like Kerala, where the LDF and Congress-led UDF are in direct contest, the question who the voters, who do not want the BJP to come to power, should side with arises."