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The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Congress were fleetingly on the same page in Kerala on Friday following the Enforcement Directorate’s politically ominous arrest of New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on charges of laundering kickbacks.
However, the Congress quickly sought to end the perceived political bonhomie to forestall the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from drawing an equivalency between the ruling front and the Opposition at the Lok Sabha election hustings in the State.
Moreover, the Congress seemed resolved to come out swinging against the CPI(M) and the BJP to keep its electoral base in the State animated despite developments in New Delhi that could alter the party’s calculus and recalibrate its relationship with anti-BJP parties at the provincial and national levels in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress also feared that it would cede more ground and receive few electoral dividends in return if it had any arrangement with the CPI(M) in Kerala.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan underscored the party’s current stance by stating in Kannur that the Congress would have no truck with the CPI(M) in Kerala, given that party leadership’s “political and business ties” with those at the BJP’s helm.
Quid pro quo alleged
In a social media post, Mr. Satheesan said the illicit alliance had caused Central investigations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and top CPI(M) leaders to peter out. Mr. Satheesan alleged that the LDF government had, in a quid pro quo, let State-level BJP leaders involved in election bribery and hawala cases off the hook.
Mr. Satheesan also said the CPI(M) could no longer claim the secular high ground. The party’s Central committee member was a BJP national leader’s business partner in Kerala. Recently, a three-time CPI(M) legislator had a one-to-one with the BJP’s national leadership, possibly a precursor to a potential defection to the Sangh Parivar fold.
BJP’s question
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also moved to stall any possible defensive alliance between the Congress and CPI(M) that may scuttle the party’s chances through last-minute tactical voting on LS poll day. BJP State president K. Surendran asked whether the Congress would cry foul if the ED arrested Mr Vijayan. He pointed out that the Congress was publicly hankering for Mr. Vijayan’s arrest.
He alleged that the Congress was firing a make-believe gun at the CPI(M), an INDIA bloc ally. Mr. Surendran said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anti-corruption drive had corralled wrongdoers in the same coop.
