Amid INDIA's Attempts To Keep Regional Rivals Together, A Jolt From Kerala

The rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Kerala has yet again bared the cracks within Opposition bloc INDIA, with regional politics clashing with their mission to trump the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The horrific crime, in which both the victim and the accused are migrants, has prompted the state Congress to launch a scathing attack on the CPM-led Left Democratic Front government.

The state Congress's Twitter handle alleged that the Kerala Home department was corrupt and demanded Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's resignation. The Chief Minister, it said, cannot ensure safety even for children. State Health Minister Veena George visited the victim's family and said that strict action will be taken in the case.  

Kerala Congress's vehement attack on the Left underlines how tall the challenge to keep the INDIA front together is.

Earlier, West Bengal Congress's attack on the ruling Trinamool Congress over violence during rural polls and Delhi Congress leaders' statements against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had prompted the BJP to mock the INDIA bloc.

The Left, which rules Kerala, is also facing a similar dilemma. On the sidelines of the big Opposition conclave at Bengaluru earlier this month, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury ruled out any alliance with the Trinamool in Bengal. "Mamata Banerjee and the CPI(M) will not happen. There will be secular parties along with the Left and the Congress in Bengal which will fight against the BJP and the TMC," he said.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Congress's leader in Lok Sabha and the party's Bengal chief, had slammed the Trinamool over the violence during panchayat polls, saying there is a "reign of terror" in the state.

In Delhi, the Congress blinked in its face-off with AAP and agreed to back the Arvind Kejriwal-led party in its fight against the centre's move to control Delhi officers. But local leaders such as Ajay Maken continue to target the AAP government, raising questions on whether regional rivalries will upset INDIA's poll prospects.

Mocking the Opposition bloc over these rivalries, BJP leader Amit Malviya tweeted, "Delhi Congress had opposed support for AAP. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury is standing up against Mamata Banerjee's murderous regime in West Bengal. But in both states, central leadership of the Congress has struck a deal with AAP and TMC, with no gain in return. Congress has regularly compromised interest of it's state units and reduced itself to a bunch of people running around Rahul Gandhi, to keep him relevant."