Kerala poll battle heats up as Rahul Gandhi alleges BJP-LDF tie-up; Pinarayi Vijayan hits back, calls Congress ‘B-team’

The exchange has added heat to the contest between the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Left Democratic Front, even as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance tries to project itself as a third option in the state.

Launching the UDF campaign from Kozhikode through video conferencing, Rahul Gandhi said the fight in Kerala is not three-sided. “There are actually only two sides fighting here in Keralam. One is the UDF alliance, and the other is the partnership between the BJP and the LDF. The UDF unites people, listens to them, and embraces and empowers them. The LDF and their hidden partner divide people and crush them,” he said.He also raised questions over the absence of action by central agencies against the Chief Minister. “I have around 40 cases and was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate for five consecutive days. Why is a similar action not being taken against the Kerala Chief Minister? This shows there is an understanding between the BJP and the LDF,” he said.

On jobs, Gandhi criticised both the Centre and the state government. “Modi ji promised 2 crore jobs nationally, and the Kerala Chief Minister promised 40 lakh jobs.

After a decade, not a single job has been given; instead, jobs have been destroyed. Neither the BJP nor the LDF believes they are answerable to the people,” he said.Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge backed the attack and accused the LDF of poor governance. He also alleged a tacit understanding with the BJP and referred to it as the “CJP” or Communist Janata Party.

Responding strongly, Pinarayi Vijayan criticised Rahul Gandhi’s remarks. “Rahul Gandhi is a national leader, yet he lacks the basic awareness of even a common local worker of Congress in Kerala. He simply refuses to learn from experience or mistakes. It is hard to understand how such a downfall is happening to him. Rahul Gandhi and his Congress are the ‘B-team’ of the BJP in the country,” he said.The CPI(M) also stated this in Congress. It said the party was weakening the fight against communal forces. “By targeting the CPI(M) instead of the BJP, the Congress leaders are reneging on their claim of fighting communal-authoritarian forces. The Congress has become a feeder organisation for the BJP,” it said.

CPI(M) General Secretary M. A. Baby called the allegations baseless.

“It is quite unfortunate that two top-most leaders of the Congress came out making baseless allegations against CPI-M and LDF. This allegation of a BJP-LDF deal has no basis at all. CPI(M) and LDF are consistently fighting the RSS and BJP ideologically and politically,” he said.On the other side, Congress leaders continued their attack. MP K. C. Venugopal dismissed the BJP’s chances. “They think that due to the CPM-BJP deal, they can win one or two seats, but that is not going to happen. Winning a seat in Kerala can be a dream for them. They will not open their account in the Kerala Assembly,” he said.

MP Shashi Tharoor said the main fight is between UDF and LDF. “The BJP is not an irrelevant factor, but the real fight is between UDF and LDF. A vote for the BJP is a wasted vote. Vote for the UDF,” he said.The BJP also stepped up its campaign. Leader Anil K Antony said both Congress and CPI(M) are putting up a “mock fight.” Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje expressed confidence in a BJP win and said people want a “double-engine government” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, the LDF retained power with 99 seats, marking a historic consecutive victory. The UDF secured 41 seats, while the NDA failed to win a single seat despite an 11.4 per cent vote share. The CPI(M) emerged as the single largest party with 62 seats, while the Congress won 21 seats.