Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane (file photo)
The country had witnessed the staunchly communal outcry throughout the campaigns of the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP (Ajit Pawar) alliance in the run-up to the assembly elections in Maharashtra, India's second largest state. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's strident hate campaigns, the BJP's seat and vote share in the 18th Lok Sabha elections had plummeted. Yet, the campaign in the subsequent state assembly elections proved that the extremist HIndutva communal forces have further poisoned their stance by challenging the essence of the Constitution and making democracy a scarecrow. Yogi Adityanath's slogan of 'Batoge toh katoge' - 'If you are divided, you will be slaughtered' - was widely used by Hindus in Maharashtra. The Election Commission, as usual, stood by, absolutely passive. With the far-right party winning a landslide victory in the elections, Nitesh Rane a BJP leader, who is a member of the Maharashtra cabinet and the son of former Union Minister Narayan Rane, is determined to attack not only the Muslim minority but also the entire state of Kerala, where the said minority enjoys relative peace and security. "Kerala is mini-Pakistan. That's why Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka won from there. All those who voted for them are terrorists. All these people become MPs only with the support of terrorists. Hindus in Kerala saved 12,000 Hindu girls," When the opposition protested against Rane's hate campaign, the explanation he gave was even more venomous.
“Kerala is very much a part of our country. But the declining Hindu population is disturbing everyone. Conversion of Hindus to Christians and Muslims has become a daily occurrence there. 'Love jihad' is also increasing there. What I said was that the treatment of Hindus in Pakistan is also happening in Kerala,” Rane’s words went along these lines. It is true that many prominent leaders of the INDIA Front, including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, have come out against Rane’s statement.
But can anyone deny the fact that the recent statements and campaigns of responsible leaders of the CPM, a component of the secular front and the party leading the Left Front government in Kerala, have become a shot in the arm for the extremist Hindutva forces? Most recently, didn't we hear the speech given by CPM Politburo member and prominent Marxist leader A. Vijayaraghavan in Sultan Bathery? Vijayaraghavan, who had recklessly said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi won the elections and entered Parliament with the votes of Muslim extremists, also said that dangerous extremists were in front of and behind their victory rallies. Even when protests erupted, the Chief Minister and the party secretary supported and justified him. Although they constantly repeat that they are opposed equally to majority communalism and minority communalism, impartial observers can discern that they are more vehemently opposed to the phenomenon that they categorically and repeatedly term as minority communalism.
If the Marxist Party or any other secularist can prove that minority communalism is operating in the country on a par with the extreme bellicose communalism of the majority, then that is yet to come out. If the peaceful raising of voice and approaching the courts in alliance with secular forces when not only the constitutional rights of religious minorities but even their basic citizenship rights are being denied is what constitutes minority communalism, then the CPM leadership should state that plainly.
What is now in display is that when any Muslim organization supports the CPM-led front in elections, it is deemed and lauded as democratic and when they stand with other secular parties within the INDIA front itself, it gets labelled as communal. It is this that becomes a weapon in the hands of the extemist Hindutva camp that is ruling the country. But this is not something that the CPM leadership is not aware of. The situation in which the party ranks are changing their minds in Kerala, their only stronghold, is worrying the leadership. They are now persuaded to the thought of adopting a soft approach towards Hindutva to retain the eroding majority community support. At this rate, it would not even be surprising if the policy document of the Party Congress to be held in Madurai early this month leans towards such an approach. If it has come to such a point where the party has to adopt the soft Hindutva, which the party has been accusing the Congress of following, it is in the interest of survival to study the reasons and circumstances that led to it. If not, the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections will put the party in the same fate as in Bengal.