IIPM Prof Arindam Chaudhuri on Our Parliament and Parliamentarians' Work
Its 'secular tactics' may not save LDF from an imminent electoral rout. The 'tactical policies' it adopted in the last elections will return to haunt the front, writes K. Sunilkumar
Left parties, especially Communist Party of India (Marxist), always flaunt their 'secular' credentials. In every election in Kerala, the main leftist propaganda is that they never dilute their anti-communal stance.
But the people of Kerala cannot forget the image of Abdul Nasar Madani, chairman of People's Democratic Party (PDP), sharing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) campaign platform in Ponnani with CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. It was a joint 'secular' campaign for Dr. Hussain Randathani, the Independent candidate of the LDF in the last Lok Sabha election. Madani was imprisoned for eight years in connection with the Coimbatore blast that occurred on February 14, 1998. He is now listed as the 31st accused in the Bangalore blast case. Madani's party whole-heartedly supported LDF in the election and campaigned for the victory of Left candidates. But Madani was not alone in his support for the comrades. Indian National League (INL), which broke away from Indian Union Muslim League, has had an informal alliance with LDF for 14 years. Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim 'fundamentalist' organisation (as portrayed by the CPM leaders) also supported the left 'secularists'.
Moreover, the Sunni Muslim organisation led by Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, an orthodox leader who publicly opposes the entry of women into politics and even education for Muslim girls, clandestinely helped the leftists in Kerala. This 'secular circus' was played out with an eye on a possible victory in some Lok Sabha seats in Malabar area.
Kerala Congress (J), led by P. J. Joseph, infamous in a case of molestation on board an aircraft, represented the Christian sections in the state. Unfortunately, voters sabotaged these calculations. LDF could win only three of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. Within the next six months, in byelections to three Assembly seats, voters rejected LDF's 'secular agenda' yet again. These electoral setbacks and pressures from in and outside the CPM forced the party to alter its election tactics and strategies. Factional fights in the party and the departure of allies from the Front have severely trimmed the LDF. The Janata Dal (S) led by M.P. Veerendra Kumar, a theoretician of anti-globalisation politics, broke away from the alliance thanks to differences with the CPM leadership during the Lok Sabha elections. The party has now joined the United Democratic Front (UDF), which favours globalisation.
A few days ago, Kerala Congress (Joseph) walked out of LDF and merged with Kerala Congress (Mani), led by K. M. Mani, a senior political leader in Kerala. KC (M) is a UDF constituent. INL has also snapped its ties with LDF and is now in negotiations for return to the mother organisation, IUML, the second largest party in UDF. Following the Central leadership's inference that the alliance with Madani had damaged the party's image in the LS polls, CPM has been showing disenchantment with it.
After police action during an agitation against mass eviction for a four-lane road to Kinaloor (Kozhikode) organised by Solidarity (youth organisation of Jamaat-e-Islami) and political parleys with Muslim League leaders, the Jamaat has turned into a 'class enemy' for the Marxists. Now CPM and LDF are trying to make new allies to cover the losses and improve their prospects in the coming elections. Two crucial polls are ahead for the Kerala CPM and LDF in the next 11 months.
As Muslim and Christian minority parties shun the comrades, the latter have begun to move in the opposite direction and are wooing Hindu votes. CPM has already started its new strategic shift to woo some major communities in the Hindu fold. The party leadership has started a blame game against minority organisations and are molly-coddling Hindu outfits like NSS and SNDP.
An indication of this shift is evident from statements and writings of top leaders of the party. The first shot was fired by from Pinarayi Vijayan through his categorical allegation that Christian bishops were responsible for scuttling the merger of Kerala Congress factions. And V. S. Achuthanandan, chief minister of Kerala, jumped to the conclusion that 'Muslim and Christian communalism is on the rise in the state.' He accused the Congress of backing such communal elements.
Congress and UDF leaders have alleged that Achuthanandan and CPM are trying to play the Hindu card for the next election. K.M. Mani, leader of Kerala Congress, has questioned the CM's statement on legal grounds because 'it is against certain communities.' Senior Congress leader and Union overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi, too, alleged that the CM's statement blaming the Congress for the growth of Muslim and Christian communalism was "a political ploy to appease the majority community and the RSS'.
After the CPM politburo issued a clarification in this regard, the party's stand vis-a-vis this new strategy was finally out in the open.
'The politburo noted that various communal and caste forces are being mobilised against the LDF government. These forces are sought to be consolidated behind the Congress-led UDF. The increasing intervention of religious and communal bodies in politics does not augur well for the secular polity in Kerala,' said the politburo statement issued after its meeting held in Delhi on June 5 and 6.
According to some political observers, the shift in the CPM stand is a move to make new alliances or whip up Hindu sentiments against the minorities. 'In the last two decades, CPM has tried to woo minorities in the state. They succeeded to some extent. But after the last Lok Sabha elections proved that it cannot derive any gains from the minorities, the party began to woo Hindus,' says B.R.P. Bhaskar.
He also argues that the CPM in Kerala is a party that is dominated by Hindu members. 'The minority population in the state is 44 per cent, but only 20 per cent of CPM's membership is made up of people belonging to the minority communities,' Bhaskar explains.
The Sangh Parivar, especially BJP, which has been trying to make headway in Kerala politics, have also come out strongly against at the new 'duplicitous' strategy of the CPM. 'Christian and Muslim fanatics who stood with CPM for a while ditched them at a time when they were needed the most. All of a sudden, the leftist forces are now desperately trying to project themselves as the sole secular face in a bid to win back the trust of the Hindu voter,' Haindava Keralam, a pro-Hindu website, recently wrote.
However, political observers in the state believe that the new 'secular tactics' may not save LDF from an imminent electroal rout. The 'tactical policies' that it adopted in the last elections are still quite fresh in the minds of the people and these memories are likely to return to haunt the Kerala Marxists and their allies in an election that, like the recent municipal polls in West Bengal, will be a litmus test.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Run after passion and not money, says Arindam Chaudhuri
Award Conferred To Irom Chanu Sharmila By IIPM
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of India
Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions
IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps
Its 'secular tactics' may not save LDF from an imminent electoral rout. The 'tactical policies' it adopted in the last elections will return to haunt the front, writes K. Sunilkumar
Left parties, especially Communist Party of India (Marxist), always flaunt their 'secular' credentials. In every election in Kerala, the main leftist propaganda is that they never dilute their anti-communal stance.
But the people of Kerala cannot forget the image of Abdul Nasar Madani, chairman of People's Democratic Party (PDP), sharing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) campaign platform in Ponnani with CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. It was a joint 'secular' campaign for Dr. Hussain Randathani, the Independent candidate of the LDF in the last Lok Sabha election. Madani was imprisoned for eight years in connection with the Coimbatore blast that occurred on February 14, 1998. He is now listed as the 31st accused in the Bangalore blast case. Madani's party whole-heartedly supported LDF in the election and campaigned for the victory of Left candidates. But Madani was not alone in his support for the comrades. Indian National League (INL), which broke away from Indian Union Muslim League, has had an informal alliance with LDF for 14 years. Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim 'fundamentalist' organisation (as portrayed by the CPM leaders) also supported the left 'secularists'.
Moreover, the Sunni Muslim organisation led by Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar, an orthodox leader who publicly opposes the entry of women into politics and even education for Muslim girls, clandestinely helped the leftists in Kerala. This 'secular circus' was played out with an eye on a possible victory in some Lok Sabha seats in Malabar area.
Kerala Congress (J), led by P. J. Joseph, infamous in a case of molestation on board an aircraft, represented the Christian sections in the state. Unfortunately, voters sabotaged these calculations. LDF could win only three of the 20 Lok Sabha seats. Within the next six months, in byelections to three Assembly seats, voters rejected LDF's 'secular agenda' yet again. These electoral setbacks and pressures from in and outside the CPM forced the party to alter its election tactics and strategies. Factional fights in the party and the departure of allies from the Front have severely trimmed the LDF. The Janata Dal (S) led by M.P. Veerendra Kumar, a theoretician of anti-globalisation politics, broke away from the alliance thanks to differences with the CPM leadership during the Lok Sabha elections. The party has now joined the United Democratic Front (UDF), which favours globalisation.
A few days ago, Kerala Congress (Joseph) walked out of LDF and merged with Kerala Congress (Mani), led by K. M. Mani, a senior political leader in Kerala. KC (M) is a UDF constituent. INL has also snapped its ties with LDF and is now in negotiations for return to the mother organisation, IUML, the second largest party in UDF. Following the Central leadership's inference that the alliance with Madani had damaged the party's image in the LS polls, CPM has been showing disenchantment with it.
After police action during an agitation against mass eviction for a four-lane road to Kinaloor (Kozhikode) organised by Solidarity (youth organisation of Jamaat-e-Islami) and political parleys with Muslim League leaders, the Jamaat has turned into a 'class enemy' for the Marxists. Now CPM and LDF are trying to make new allies to cover the losses and improve their prospects in the coming elections. Two crucial polls are ahead for the Kerala CPM and LDF in the next 11 months.
As Muslim and Christian minority parties shun the comrades, the latter have begun to move in the opposite direction and are wooing Hindu votes. CPM has already started its new strategic shift to woo some major communities in the Hindu fold. The party leadership has started a blame game against minority organisations and are molly-coddling Hindu outfits like NSS and SNDP.
An indication of this shift is evident from statements and writings of top leaders of the party. The first shot was fired by from Pinarayi Vijayan through his categorical allegation that Christian bishops were responsible for scuttling the merger of Kerala Congress factions. And V. S. Achuthanandan, chief minister of Kerala, jumped to the conclusion that 'Muslim and Christian communalism is on the rise in the state.' He accused the Congress of backing such communal elements.
Congress and UDF leaders have alleged that Achuthanandan and CPM are trying to play the Hindu card for the next election. K.M. Mani, leader of Kerala Congress, has questioned the CM's statement on legal grounds because 'it is against certain communities.' Senior Congress leader and Union overseas Indian affairs minister Vayalar Ravi, too, alleged that the CM's statement blaming the Congress for the growth of Muslim and Christian communalism was "a political ploy to appease the majority community and the RSS'.
After the CPM politburo issued a clarification in this regard, the party's stand vis-a-vis this new strategy was finally out in the open.
'The politburo noted that various communal and caste forces are being mobilised against the LDF government. These forces are sought to be consolidated behind the Congress-led UDF. The increasing intervention of religious and communal bodies in politics does not augur well for the secular polity in Kerala,' said the politburo statement issued after its meeting held in Delhi on June 5 and 6.
According to some political observers, the shift in the CPM stand is a move to make new alliances or whip up Hindu sentiments against the minorities. 'In the last two decades, CPM has tried to woo minorities in the state. They succeeded to some extent. But after the last Lok Sabha elections proved that it cannot derive any gains from the minorities, the party began to woo Hindus,' says B.R.P. Bhaskar.
He also argues that the CPM in Kerala is a party that is dominated by Hindu members. 'The minority population in the state is 44 per cent, but only 20 per cent of CPM's membership is made up of people belonging to the minority communities,' Bhaskar explains.
The Sangh Parivar, especially BJP, which has been trying to make headway in Kerala politics, have also come out strongly against at the new 'duplicitous' strategy of the CPM. 'Christian and Muslim fanatics who stood with CPM for a while ditched them at a time when they were needed the most. All of a sudden, the leftist forces are now desperately trying to project themselves as the sole secular face in a bid to win back the trust of the Hindu voter,' Haindava Keralam, a pro-Hindu website, recently wrote.
However, political observers in the state believe that the new 'secular tactics' may not save LDF from an imminent electroal rout. The 'tactical policies' that it adopted in the last elections are still quite fresh in the minds of the people and these memories are likely to return to haunt the Kerala Marxists and their allies in an election that, like the recent municipal polls in West Bengal, will be a litmus test.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Run after passion and not money, says Arindam Chaudhuri
Award Conferred To Irom Chanu Sharmila By IIPM
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
IIPM Lucknow – News article in Economic Times and Times of India
Prof Rajita Chaudhuri follow some off-beat trends like organizing make up sessions
IIPM Prof Rajita Chaudhuri's Snaps
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