THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As campaigning for the upcoming elections heats up in Kerala, the two main parties, the Congress and CPM, have intensified their attacks, accusing each other of striking secret deals with the BJP in several constituencies.
The allegation was first made by Opposition Leader in the Assembly, V. D. Satheeshan, who accused the CPM of collaborating with the BJP in the Palakkad seat. The Congress claimed that the CPM has fielded a local hotelier to support the BJP, which has put forward one of its strongest candidates, Shobha Surendran, from the constituency. The Congress is contesting the seat with film actor Ramesh Pisharody as its candidate.
Satheeshan claimed that not just in Palakkad, but the CPM has struck a deal with the BJP in at least ten seats. According to the Congress, the BJP sees Rahul Gandhi as its main rival, as he is leading a nationwide resistance against the Sangh Parivar and the Modi government.
They also argue that the BJP does not want the Congress to win in Kerala, a state that gave Rahul Gandhi a new political lease of life after his loss in Amethi and his revival from Wayanad. Later, Priyanka Gandhi also entered electoral politics from Wayanad, highlighting the Gandhi family’s special connection to Kerala.
The Congress further alleged that the CPM, too, wants to keep it out of power, making the current electoral strategies of the CPM and BJP in Kerala complementary to each other.
Satheeshan claimed that besides Palakkad, the CPM had struck a deal with the BJP in Kasargod, Manjeshwaram, Ranni, and Konni in Pathanamthitta district, adding that more constituencies would be named later. “The people of Kerala want to send out two strong messages in the upcoming polls; end LDF’s 10-year misrule and Kerala is and will always remain secular.”
Earlier, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the Congress for spreading lies about the LDF, accusing them at a press conference of reviving the “Colebi” alliance—a term for the alleged 1991 pact between the Congress, Muslim League, and BJP in Beypore and Vadakara to defeat the CPM-led LDF, which ultimately failed.
He also blamed the Congress for enabling the BJP’s first assembly win in Kerala from Nemom in 2016 by fielding a weak UDF candidate, though noted that CPM leader V Sivankutty closed the BJP’s account there in 2021. Congress leaders countered, pointing out they had fielded a strong contender like K Muraleedharan, which prevented the BJP from reclaiming the seat.
The chief minister reiterated that Rahul Gandhi was the BJP’s B team, pointing to the mass exodus of Congress chief ministers, ministers, union ministers, MPs, and MLAs to the BJP. The CPM claimed that voting for Congress would only strengthen the BJP in Kerala.
Meanwhile, the BJP argued that Congress and the CPM are part of the UPA alliance nationwide, with partnerships in many states, and that their rivalry in Kerala is “fixed.” BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar accused the two parties of raising the “deal” issue to woo a particular community, but said the people have seen through their game and would reject them in the upcoming polls.
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