Even as the CPI(M) is facing one of its worst crises in the run up to the local body elections in Kerala, situation is no different in Congress, the principal Opposition party.
The Grand Old Party is facing a major trust deficit as well as infighting among party leadership over its overt and covert alliance with extremist organizations like Jamaath Islami, Welfare Party of India and SDPI.
“Yes, we do have alliances with these parties and what is wrong in it? It is the decision of the Congress leadership to cooperate with all democratic, secular and progressive parties,” said M M Haasan, convener, United Democratic Front and prominent Congress leader.
Mullappalli Ramachandran, KPCC President, says he does not know of any such decision. While senior leaders are fighting it out over the alliance with the extremist organizations, the only visible face of the Congress in the State is former chief minister Oommen Chandi who is on an arduous and strenuous campaign across Kerala despite his ill health.
K Muraleedharan, MP , is on record that the Congress has no alliance with extremist organizations. “Though there were some local arrangements in some of the municipal and panchayat bodies, all of them were nipped in the bud itself. The Congress has electoral alliance only with the constituents of the United Democratic Front,” said Muraleedharan.
But the local media were full of pictures and news about senior Congress leaders like Ramchandran campaigning and soliciting votes for candidates belonging to parties like WPI, SDPI and PFI.
Leaders of Muslim League, the second largest constituent in the UDF, are facing probe by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau. M C Kamaruddeen, MLA from Manjeshwar was arrested on November 7 in connection with duping of depositors in his gold business and has been jailed since then. K M Shaji, another MLA belonging to the Muslim League is facing series of charges and is under probe by both the DVAC as well as Kerala Police.
Ebrahim Kunju, former minister belonging to the Musim League has been arrested in connection with Palarivattam Fly Over scam and is struggling to get bail from Kerala High Court. He has been admitted to a corporate hospital in Kochi for serious ailment and alleged that the arrest was part of the LDF Government’s move to divert the attention of the electorate from serious corruption charges faced by the CPI(M) leaders that include gold smuggling scam, hawala transaction and LIFE Mission corruption charges.
As the campaign for the first phase of local body polls came to an end on Sunday evening, the BJP has come out with an allegation stating that the LDF and UDF had entered into a secret mission to defeat the Hindutwa party candidates by en mass transferring of votes in municipal corporations like Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kozhikode.
“This has been a trend in the State for decades but this time we will defeat the evil designs of these fronts,” said V V Rajesh, the mayoral candidate for Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
