For the last four decades in Kerala, the CPI (M) -led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-led United Democratic Front have been competing head to head. The regime alternated between elections every five years. However, with the LDF gaining ground in the Assembly elections this year, the political equation began to change. Under the leadership of Pinarayi Vijayan, the LDF gained the upper hand in state politics. Just before the election, the Mani faction of the Kerala Congress left the UDF and joined the LDF. With this, the base of the UDF began to shake. It should be understood that they worked closely with extremist forces such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and the SDPI, on the one hand, and the RSS, on the other, to seize power. That too failed miserably and the UDF lost its balance.
The Congress and the Muslim League, the dominant parties in the UDF, adopted the sectarian politics of hatred of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the RSS to hold on to Kerala politics. As part of that, the Muslim League called religion a problem. The Muslim League, which has thrown its secular hypocrisy into the Arabian Sea, has unequivocally stated that it is a secular party. He called the Muslim League a party that represented only the religion of that name. The Congress has not yet answered the question of whether it supports or rejects this communal agenda of the League. This means that the Congress favors the extremist sectarianism of the League.
The answer to the question of how Nehru's successors, who have taken a secular stance, can do this is given by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Jaipur yesterday. Rahul Gandhi has put forward a sectarian stance that transcends even the League. Explaining that Hindutva and Hinduism are two, Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress wants a king of Hindus in India. Secularism is based on secularism in a country where it is written in the constitution
The Hindu party, which claims to be a functioning political party, has declared itself the target. Opposition leader VD Satheesan said, "We have the same position as Rahul Gandhi." This means that the Congress, which leads the UDF, has the same position as the RSS in establishing a Hindu Rashtra. How can it be said that the UDF is a secular front when both the parties in the UDF uphold their religious views? What is the attitude of the RSP and the Forward Bloc, which are still in the UDF, towards these religious views of the main constituent parties? What is the attitude of the Muslim League towards the Congress' call for the establishment of a Hindu state? Do they accept Rahul Gandhi's statement?
One thing is clear: the UDF, which is vying to emulate the Jamaat-e-Islami and the RSS, cannot uphold secular politics. The people have come to realize that only the Left Democratic Front can oppose the BJP and the RSS on a secular basis. The time has come for those who sided with the UDF, mistaken for a secular front, to reconsider their position. The policies of the Congress and the Muslim League will only lead to a very dangerous situation where different religions live in harmony. The UDF has degenerated into a communal united front of religious people. We are confident that the enlightened people of Kerala will understand the dangers of this politics. Only the LDF can now claim to be the secular front in Kerala.
Com. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
CPI (M) State Secretary
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