Ready To Vote Congress To Keep BJP Out, Says Left Leader In Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: A senior CPM leader in Kerala has said the party will even vote for bitter rival Congress to keep the BJP out in next year's general elections. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan is the state secretary of the CPM and in a state that swings between the Left and the Congress every five years, the statement is seen as a signal of the Left's deviation from the traditional stand on the subject, the BJP has said.

Two months ago, in January, the Kerala contingent shot down party general secretary Sitaram Yechury's proposal of joining forces with the Congress to oust the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections at an internal election held in Kolkata.

But today, speaking at a public gathering organised by the party in Kasargode, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said in the next Lok Sabha elections, the Left will contest in 100-150 seats.

"In the remaining seats, we will identity the candidate who can defeat BJP. The Left Front and the CPM will vote for such candidates. It could be SP, BSP, regional parties or even if it is the Congress, we will vote for Congress to defeat BJP," said 64-year-old Mr Balakrishnan, who has been occupying the party post for the six years.

Top CPM leader and Politburo member MA Baby pointed out that Mr Balakrishnan doesn't talk of any electoral arrangements with the Congress.

"Our line is to fight BJP communalism by the left & democratic forces, in absence of which identify non-Congress secular regional forces. If in any constituency only a Congress candidate has the possibility to fight and defeat BJP or its allies, we won't hesitate to vote even for Congress in that particular constituency," he said.

Despite its rivalry with Congress at the state-level, the Left was an ally in the UPA till it left in a huff in July 2008, following the groundbreaking nuclear deal with USA crafted by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Though in Bengal, the relation improved after Mamata Banerjee captured power from the CPM, with the two parties having an unofficial alliance ahead of the 2016 assembly elections, the rivalry in Kerala became bitter.

But over the last one year, the BJP has outstripped the Congress in keeping the pressure up on the Left. The party has been on a single-minded drive to bring the southern states within its grip following its agenda of expanding to non-Congress states.

The BJP never had a strong presence in Kerala. Of the 20 parliamentary seats in the state, it did not even win one in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In 2016 assembly elections, it opened its account in the state with a single seat.   

But with the Jan Raksha rally in last October, the party launched an aggressive membership drive in Kerala. The intense rivalry is reflected in the spiralling figure of political violence in the state.

The BJP's state leaders have brushed off Mr Balakrishnan's comment, indicating they would relish a contest.

"Nationally, they (the Left) doesn't have any presence. They have been finished in Tripura. In Kerala, for the Chengannur by-poll, why are they even pretending to put up a candidate against the Congress? Let them contest against the BJP with a common candidate," V Muraleedharan, the party's newly elected Rajya Sabha lawmaker said.