Why CPM in Kerala is in a bind over P Anvar’s allegations

Muslim-dominated Malappuram district has seen a spate of gold seizures at Kozhikode airport. Anvar’s Nilampur constituency falls within the district.

The state CPI(M), which remains firmly under the grip of Vijayan, has been seeking to woo the minorities towards its side, playing on their apprehensions regarding the BJP. The minorities in Kerala have largely been supporters of the Congress-led UDF.

However, that the LDF’s gambit was not working was clear during the Lok Sabha elections, when the CPI(M)’s campaign that almost entirely revolved around the Citizenship (Amendment) Act failed to get it Muslim votes.

Making it worse for the CPI(M), backward Hindus, traditionally its vote bank, too seemed to have deserted the party over its “appeasement of minorities”.

Now the party is in a bind following Anvar’s allegations — including that ADGP Kumar “colluded” to help the BJP win the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat — which could further alienate the Muslim community from it. However, the CPI(M) remains unsure about how far it should push.

The party has tried to be aggressive, alleging that Anvar was trying to stop police crackdown against gold smuggling. Both CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan and Vijayan have said this, with the CM asserting that there was no question of stopping police action.

However, this defence of the Vijayan government has taken a hit after an interview in The Hindu attributed remarks to him suggesting a communal tilt in the crackdown. The newspaper has since said that the remarks had been wrongly added, but the Opposition has latched on to them.

IUML general secretary P K Kunhalikutty has said Vijayan’s statement was set to be used by the BJP to target the minorities. “The CM has served an issue to the Sangh Parivar. He has given it material to insult Malappuram district as well as Kerala,” he said.

As damage-control, CPI(M) leaders have now started talking about how it was the party-led government of E M S Namboodiripad that formed the Malappuram district in 1969.

Govindan has said the Congress and Sangh were together in opposing the formation of the district. “The RSS then said Kerala is going to have a mini-Pakistan. The CPI(M) strived for the growth of the district. It was the Communist government of 1957 that allowed construction of mosques like any other places of worship. We grew as a force in Malappuram district after fighting against all communal forces,” he said.

Senior CPI(M) leader and LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan on Saturday said there is a covert attempt to estrange minorities from the Left. “Our analysis has not so far come across that minorities are drifting away from the LDF. But there is a covert move to alienate the minorities from the Left and that will be countered,” he said.

The CPI(M) has also strategically put forward its opinion that the Social Democratic Party of India, the political wing of the banned Popular Front of India, and the Jamaat-e-Islami are using Anvar as a weapon.

This makes it difficult for the UDF to take Anvar on its platform, as the CPI(M) would cite it as proof that the Congress has joined hands with “communal elements”, a theme the Left used in the recent elections.

Even though the CPI(M) is under fire from various Muslim organisations, both political and community, over the controversial reference to Malappuram, the party will observe October 7, the first anniversary of Israel’s invasion of Gaza, with protests in Kerala.

The BJP, which is enjoying the CPI(M)’s discomfort, has asked the Vijayan government to clarify the truth on the gold seizures at Kozhikode airport. Claiming that the CM was trying to woo the Hindu vote without alienating Muslims, and that Hindus were “not convinced”, BJP state president K Surendran said: “If the figures of seized gold and money at Kozhikode airport are true, why is Vijayan worried?”