Battle lines are drawn and teams have taken up positions in the electoral arena of Kerala. But the question being asked by the general public is “who is taking on whom”. Is it a CPI(M) v BJP contest or the Congress-led UDF locking horns with the CPI(M) and BJP combine?
On Sunday, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly V D Satheeshan alleged that there is a secret deal between the Marxists and the BJP to ensure the defeat of UDF candidates. But the CPI(M) retorted that the Congress and the BJP were on the same side of Hindutva politics, and the former alone could save secularism, liberalism, pluralism and freedom of thought and expression in the country.
Referring to Saturday’s petition filed by the Kerala Government against President Draupudi Murmu and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in the Supreme Court for delaying assent to Bills enacted by the Legislative Assembly, the Congress leader said it was a gimmick and an election stunt. “They want the people in the State believe that there was no secret dealings between them and the BJP. The CPI(M)’s opposition to the BJP is for public consumption. Had they been serious in the complaint that the President and Governor were delaying assent to the Bills. They could have done it long back,” said Satheeshan.
The last few days have seen politics in Kerala on the boil as Satheeshan had alleged that the BJP candidate at Thiruvananthapuram Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan were business partners. “The duo jointly own Niramaya, an Ayurvedic resort in Kannoor and it is just the tip of the ice berg,” said Satheeshan. ‘
Jayarajan said he would definitely file a defamation case against the Congress leader for peddling lies which he said was against the norms prescribed by the Election Commission of India.
Political commentators are of the view that there can be no smoke without fire. “Some of the candidates fielded by the NDA add credence to the allegations of Satheeshan. The NDA candidates at Kottayam and Idukki are unlikely to get back their security deposits,” said Sudheer Damodaran, a keen political commentator based in Thrissur who was a member of then team that campaigned for Narendra Modi at Varanasi in 2014.
Ramesh Chennithala, Congress Working Committee Member, pointed out that the enthusiasm shown by the ED in arresting Kavitha, daughter of former Telangana Chief Minister Chandraseskara Rao and Aravind Kejriwal (chief minister of Delhi) is missing when it comes to Kerala where many CPI(M) leaders are under the ED’s scanner for financial embezzlement and irregularities. Ramesh pointed out that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his daughter Veena Mohammed Riyaz are being probed by ED in connection with pay-offs received from sand mining companies.
Kevin Peter, founder, Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA) is of the view that the BJP’s decision to go include BJDS, a fringe outfit promoted by the Eezhava community, is sure to boomerang on the party. “BJDS and the SNDP have been campaigning against the Church and Christians from the safe shelter offered by the BJP. This has antagonized the Christian community despite the fact that the BJP has been responsive to the suggestio0ns by the Church, The father-son duo of Vellappalli Natesan and Tushar Vellappalli has done lot of damage to the BJP’s prospectus,” said Peter.
