Kerala revelations about clandestine CPM-BJP vote deal

The revelation by RSS ideologue Dr R Balashankar that BJP and CPM are conspiring together in Chengannur, Aranmula and Konni seats in the upcoming assembly polls has paved the way for new political debates. He revealed the 'deal' whereby the BJP shall help Marxist party candidates in Chengannur and Aranmula and they will reciprocate by ensuring the BJP state president K Surendran's victory in Konni. Both CPM and BJP leaders have dismissed the allegations outright. While the BJP alleges that this comes from his frustration over being denied a seat, Pinarayi Vijayan responded saying he has no idea where people come up with such claims. However, Balashankar has reiterated that he stood by the allegation about the clandestine deal.

Kerala politics has so far maintained a kind of taboo for BJP who have proven communalism and hatred for the otheras their modus operandi. Despite the Modi government entering a second term at the centre and trying all crooked means at their disposal, the party could not make any considerable inroads in the state. It is common for them to begin the election making large claims and promises, but by the end be reduced to mere shadow. . This is not to say its campaign has been completely futile - the last assembly elections saw the party win one seat (senior leader O Rajagopal from Nemom) and open an account. Following this streak, the party was able to reap a substantial vote share in the last Lok Sabha elections though not any seats. The vote share of the BJP, which was 14.96% in 2016 rose to 15.64% in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However, this fell to 14.56% in the recent local body elections. BJP is stepping into the arena this time with its faith placed on the performance of the last assembly elections wherein they won one seat and was the second most popular in 7 others. The state leadership has categorized its performance with prospects of victory in 10 constituencies, 30 with an A+ grading and ten with an A grading. It is amidst these plans and string-pulling going on behind the curtain that the RSS intellectual has come out with the expose. While they have not achieved anything worth mentioning in parliamentary politics, infighting and leadership level bickerings are a very common occurrence. With poor performance in the polls, the discussion on BJP's vote-swap and other agreements has come into the light again. In the 1991 Parliament and assembly elections, their 'Vadakara-Beypore' model with the UDF led to the political equation of 'Co-Lea-B' (Congress-League-BJP axis). The BJP did play a role in helping both the fronts in elections after that as well. Both of them give validation to the speculations by accusing each other of backdoor negotiations with the BJP.

The charge Balashankar has raised is that the BJP is conspiring with the CPM for the upcoming polls. The BJP which aims at a Congress-free India and the CPM which is determined to bag a second term for which it deems the Congress as its arch foe, happen to come to meet along a common line. What the BJP is targeting is that with another term of the LDF rule, it can see the shattering of the Congress thus paving way for its becoming the main opposition or even the ruling front in the elections that follow. On the other hand, Kerala has witnessed a weakening of CPM's resistance against the fascist, anti-people measures of the Centre as compared to the vigour and valour with which it resists the Congress. In parallel, what Kerala is witnessing is a CPM that is metamorphosing so much so as to take up some of the Sangh Parivar's accusations about Muslim communalism as a party policy; in addition, the party remains a silent spectator as the Home Ministry - under CM Vijayan- is given a free rein. We have witnessed, similar to Bengal, who makes the harvest out of it with the transition of whole offices to Sangh parivar shakhas and several leaders changing from left-leaning to becoming extreme right-wing candidates. It is amidst this that the right-wing ideologue has unravelled the back-door CPM-BJP negotiations. The BJP can do anything to save itself from this 'disgrace'. However, these cunning means, or jumping on them will not be enough for a left-front that claims a monopoly over secularism and the anti-fascist fight.