On 21st December, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo leader A Vijayaraghavan said that the reason behind the poll victory of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat was because of a “communal Muslim alliance.” Vijayaraghavan’s remarks came during the district conference of the Left party at Sultan Bathery.
Vijayaraghavan said, “Two persons have gone from Wayanad (Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi). With whose support? With the strong support of the communal Muslim alliance. Without their support, was it possible for Rahul Gandhi to reach Delhi? He is the Opposition leader. Who were in the front and back rows of the processions of Priyanka Gandhi? The worst extremist elements in the minorities were in them. They were with the Congress leadership. Without the support of the communal Muslim alliance, was it possible for Rahul Gandhi to reach Delhi?”
According to Vijayaraghavan, Suresh Gopi was able to win Lok Sabha seat and reach Delhi only because Congress did not handle the elections carefully. He accused the opposition alliance in Kerala of not taking the correct stand at the centre. He said, “Their main enemy is the Left. They do not mind even if Kerala is destroyed”.
Notably, during the Lok Sabha elections held in early 2024, CPI(M) strategised to lure Muslim voters in Kerala by highlighting issues that were popular among the community, including the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Gaza war. However, the party failed to gain the trust of Muslim voters and lost the Hindu voters for the CPI(M)-led LDF as well.
Vijayaraghavan’s attack on Congress, claiming the grand old party got support from Muslim organisations, is in fact in line with the strategy the party had adopted after the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Following the realisation that CPI(M) lost its Hindu vote bank, the party has been trying to win back Hindu votes.
In the recently held by-elections for the Palakkad and Chelakkara assembly seats in Kerala, and the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, CPI(M) was seen trying to approach Hindu voters. Interestingly, CPI(M) was also seen attacking Muslim political parties in the region. In a statement, Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, called the state president of IUML, Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, an “activist of the Jamaat-e-Islami.”
He said Jamaat-e-Islami stood for an “Islamic regime” and added that the “extremist section” was trying to “gain influence in the Indian Union Muslim League.” IUML is part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala. It is also a part of the I.N.D.I. Alliance at the national level.
Working along the lines of wooing Hindu voters, CM Vijayan also attempted to link Jamaat-e-Islami with the Congress Party just a month before the by-elections for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. He stated that now-MP Priyanka Gandhi was contesting the elections with the support of JeI, which, according to him, was not in favour of the democratic system.
