Thiruvananthapuram: Ever since the formation of the INDIA bloc as a broad anti-BJP platform, the CPI(M)-led Left has been among its most consistent supporters despite being the Congress’s principal political rival in Kerala.
The CPI(M) leadership had largely avoided allowing its fierce electoral battles with the Congress in Kerala to undermine the optics of opposition unity whenever INDIA bloc constituents came together to challenge the BJP-led NDA government on major national issues.
A loose coalition of regional and national parties, INDIA was built on the understanding that ideological diversity and state-level rivalries need not prevent collective opposition to the Narendra Modi government.
However, the political equation appears to have shifted following the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) crushing defeat in Kerala, which removed the Left from power in its last remaining state government and left it without a governing foothold for the first time in decades.
In the aftermath of that setback, the CPI(M) leadership has begun urging the Congress high command to tone down its anti-Left rhetoric in the larger interest of preserving opposition unity.
What particularly rankled the CPI(M) was Rahul Gandhi’s campaign allegation that the party had effectively been working in tandem with the BJP in Kerala in pursuit of a third consecutive term for the LDF government.
Gandhi reinforced the charge by questioning why central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate appeared to be proceeding cautiously in cases linked to former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family. The remarks echoed a narrative repeatedly advanced by sections of the Kerala Congress leadership during the election campaign.
While the CPI(M) initially chose to dismiss the allegations as routine campaign rhetoric, the party raised the issue more forcefully after its electoral defeat, arguing that the Congress should be more accommodating towards fellow INDIA bloc partners regardless of state-level political rivalries.
The CPI(M)’s concerns were reportedly conveyed directly to Congress leaders by Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas during the INDIA alliance meeting held in New Delhi on May 8.
According to reports, Rahul Gandhi responded positively to the concerns but pointed out that his campaign interventions in Kerala had been based largely on feedback received from state Congress leaders.
Ahead of the INDIA meeting, CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby wrote to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressing disappointment over what he described as unfounded allegations made by senior Congress leaders during the Kerala campaign.
“Right from the June 2023 Patna meeting that launched the INDIA bloc, the CPI(M) has worked sincerely to build such a united platform. Strangely, the CPI(M) is now accused of having a deal with the BJP. This is a canard which we cannot take lightly,” Baby reportedly wrote.
He further argued that the allegations were not isolated campaign remarks but formed a central theme of the Congress campaign in Kerala.
“Every national leader — Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and you — repeated these allegations,” he noted.
At the same time, Baby assured the Congress leadership that the CPI(M) would continue cooperating with INDIA bloc partners in Parliament on issues of common concern.
The party’s displeasure was also reflected in an editorial published in its official daily Deshabhimani, which accused the Congress leadership of being insufficiently sensitive towards the concerns of alliance partners.
Interestingly, the CPI(M) did not publicly escalate the issue during the campaign itself.
When Rahul Gandhi repeatedly raised the “BJP deal” allegation at election rallies, then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan merely remarked that national Congress leaders should not have descended to the level of local party functionaries.
At the time, the CPI(M), still in power, may have calculated that responding aggressively would only amplify the controversy. The scale of the subsequent electoral defeat, however, appears to have made the party considerably more sensitive to the issue.
The Left leadership is also unhappy that the Congress did not openly criticise the Enforcement Directorate’s recent searches linked to the alleged payments case involving Vijayan’s daughter.
CPI(M) leaders argue that opposition parties within the INDIA bloc have consistently maintained that central agencies such as the ED are being used selectively against political opponents of the BJP, including members of the Gandhi family in the National Herald case.
Yet the CPI(M)’s public positioning is unlikely to soften the Congress’s approach in Kerala.
State Congress leaders maintain that the CPI(M) itself repeatedly raised similar allegations of a “BJP-Congress understanding” during the election campaign and therefore cannot now complain about political attacks from its rival.
The Congress leadership is also unlikely to recalibrate its Kerala strategy merely to accommodate CPI(M) sensitivities. For the Congress, Kerala remains one of the few major states where it directly confronts the Left. For the CPI(M), however, preserving the broader opposition platform has become increasingly important after its electoral setback.
That asymmetry may define the future of relations between the two parties.
While both remain committed to cooperation within the INDIA bloc at the national level, neither appears willing to dilute its political contest in Kerala — a reality that will continue to test the limits of opposition unity in the years ahead.
