Skimming through history, it can be seen that writers, artists and intellectuals have always been both loyal and fiercest critics of the Left politics. Classic examples of this, lately, are philosopher Slavoj Zizek and economist and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis.
In Kerala, for instance, you can expect poet Balachandran Chullikkad or writer M Mukundan to praise the Left parties for certain policies or their stand on some issues. And don't fault the Left for making use of it to the hilt like CPI (M) state secretary MV Govindan did recently.
Writing in the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani, Govindan cited Mukundan to claim that the Left parties remain the only credible choice for the voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Govindan argued that it was the Left that has taken a clear stand against the Electoral Bond and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It might have been preaching to the already converted, but he reminded readers that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was the first in the country to convene a special session of the Legislative Assembly which passed a resolution against the CAA.
He stressed that the Kerala CM had made it clear that CAA will not be implemented in Kerala. Moreover, the Kerala government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the law which unconstitutionally grants citizenship based on religion, Govindan noted.
The CPI (M) leader concluded the article citing Mukundan. "As the famous writer M Mukundan has pointed out, it's only for the Left the people can vote with faith."
"Mukundan," the CPI (M) leader summed up, "has read the mind of the people of Kerala."
Mukundan explained to The New Indian Express the context in which he made the statement.
"I made the statement against the backdrop of the defection of leaders from various parties, including the Congress, to the BJP," the author said.
"In Bihar, Nitish Kumar joined the NDA, whereas in Kerala, Anil Antony and Padmaja Venugopal from the Congress joined the BJP," Mukundan pointed out, adding, "but we can be sure that there won't be such defections from the CPI (M)."
"It is against such a backdrop I said that we can vote for Left candidates without fear of them defecting to other parties later," Mukundan said.
"All elections are crucial for us since they decide our fate," Mukundan said when asked how crucial does he think the upcoming elections are.
Mukundan said he gets restless when he thinks about CAA and other such policies of the BJP government, but restrained from elaborating further since he doesn't want any controversy erupting in his name.
