Kerala's LDF appears to warm up to IUML, says many UDF partners will join Left fold

Indicating a shift in its tactical approach towards Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Kerala's CPI(M)-led LDF on Wednesday appeared to be warming up to the key partner in the Congress-led UDF in the state with its convenor E P Jayarajan on Wednesday refusing to say no to a query on accommodating it into the Left fold and said expanding the ruling front's mass base is its policy.

A day after he was appointed as the convenor of the LDF, Jayarajan, a senior central committee member of the CPI(M), said the Congress will not be able to win a single seat in Kerala without the support of the Muslim League, which has got significant vote base in certain constituencies in the state.

Apparently sending feelers to the Muslim League, which was often described by the CPI(M) as a communal outfit, Jayarajan said there was a section in the key UDF partner supporting the policies of the LDF government.

"The Congress is surviving only on the support of the Muslim League. The Congress will not win a single seat in Kerala, if they go to polls alone. So, Muslim League will think what is the use of being part the UDF," Jayarajan told a news channel.

He said the UDF was not in a position to handle the issues (affecting the people) and take right decisions and this will "further complicate the situation" in the Congress-led front. Asked whether LDF will accommodate the Muslim League if it moves out of the UDF, Jayarajan said, "Let them come first" and added that "expanding the LDF and its mass base is our policy".

He said the policy of the LDF was to protect the interests of the people of the state and when it moves ahead with that policy, "many will come and even unexpected (parties) might come (and join LDF)".

Reacting to Jayarajan's remarks, IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty said there is no situation to discuss such matters as the party is functioning as a key partner of a strong front (UDF). "As far as the Muslim League is concerned, we are not discussing such matters," the senior IUML leader told reporters.

This is for the first time in recent political history that a CPI(M) leader refused to say no to a query on making Muslim League a partner of the LDF. The ties between CPI(M) and Muslim League in Kerala has been a story of love and hate.

In 1967, the CPI(M) in Kerala had an open alliance with the Muslim League. Muslim League had got representation in the second E M S Namboodiripad government which ruled the state between 1967 and 1969. Since the collapse of that experiment then, the CPI(M) had been keeping the Muslim League at bay due to ideological reasons.

The CPI(M) has a history of expelling its firebrand leader M V Raghavan from the party in 1986 after the leadership led by Namboodiripad rejected the 'alternative' tactical line he pressed for, which made a strong case for an alliance with the IUML to take on the UDF in the state.

While several leaders, including former chief minister E K Nayanar, backed his line initially, most of them eventually toed the party's official policy. But Raghavan stood firm with his theory, leading to his expulsion along with some of his close collaborators from the CPI(M) and formation of Communist Marxist Party (CMP), which later became a partner in the UDF.

The CPI(M) had targeted the Muslim League during the campaign for the 2021 Assembly polls, accusing it of adopting a soft stand towards radical Islamist outfits in the state.

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