United Democratic Front

Kerala 2024: UDF Dominates, BJP Breaks New Ground

Discontent with the eight-year rule of the Left Front government significantly influenced the favour towards the UDF.

In a sweeping victory, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dominated Kerala by capturing 18 out of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) celebrated a breakthrough as Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi secured a win in Thrissur, marking the party’s first-ever Lok Sabha seat in the state. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) managed to hold on to just one seat, emerging victorious in Alathur.

In the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha elections on April 26, Kerala conducted its polling in a single phase. With 20 constituencies in the state, voter turnout stood at 71.27%, with 1,97,77,478 out of the total 2,77,49,158 voters casting their ballots. In the 2019 general elections, the UDF swept 19 seats, while the LDF secured only one seat in Alappuzha.

In the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has crafted another remarkable victory, surpassing his nearest competitor, Annie Raja of the Communist Party of India, by a margin of over 3.6 lakh votes.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

Shafi Parambil’s victory margin of 114,506 votes against K.K. Shailaja of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency marks the highest ever recorded by any United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate or any Congress leader in this region. Parambil secured 557,528 votes (49.65%), while Shailaja garnered 443,022 votes (39.45%).

Praphul Krishnan of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) stood third with 111,979 votes (9.97%). Among the seven assembly constituencies within the Vadakara segment, Shailja maintained a lead of approximately 9,000 votes over Parambil only in Thalassery. In contrast, Parambil led by over 20,000 votes in Vadakara, Kuttiyadi, Nadapuram, Perambra, and Koyilandy, and by over 10,000 votes in Koothuparamba.

In Pathanamthitta , the Congress’s sitting MP Anto Antony, defeated Thomas Isaac, a member of the CPI(M) Central Committee, by a margin of 66,119 votes. Anil Antony, a member of the BJP and the son of former defence minister and Congressman A.K. Antony, considerably decreased the BJP’s vote share in the constituency. The BJP received 2,97,396 votes in 2019, while Anil Antony received 2,34,406 votes in 2024.

Actor and BJP leader Gopi won against CPI candidate V.S. Sunil Kumar in Kerala’s Thrissur constituency by a margin of 74,686 votes. Sunil Kumar secured the second position with 3,37,652 votes, while K. Muraleedharan of the Congress got 3,28,124 votes.

This was the second time Gopi contested for parliament in the constituency. In the 2019 election, T.N. Prathapan, the Congress candidate, defeated him with 1,21,267 votes. However, Gopi’s involvement led to a significant increase in the BJP’s vote share from 11.1% in 2014 to 28.2% in 2019. In the 2021 Kerala state assembly elections, Suresh Gopi ran from the Thrissur segment but lost by 3,806 votes.

AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal secured a victory in the Alappuzha constituency by defeating CPI(M) candidate A.M. Arif with a margin of 63,513 votes. Arif, who was the only candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat for the LDF in 2019, faced this defeat. Meanwhile, in Alappuzha, BJP candidate Shobha Surendran made significant strides, substantially increasing the party’s vote share by 111,919 votes.

M.P. Samadani of the IUML clinched victory in Ponnani, securing 450,486 votes, outstripping K.S. Hamza of the CPI(M) by a margin of 2,05,726 votes.

In Kannur, K. Sudhakaran secured a victory over M.V. Jayarajan, surpassing his previous winning margin from 2019. Sudhakaran, who had previously defeated P.K. Sreemathy of the CPI(M) by 94,559 votes, widened his lead to a margin of 1,08,982 votes this time. He garnered a total of 5,18,524 votes, while Jayarajan received 4,09,542 votes.

BJP candidate C. Raghunath trailed with 119,876 votes. Sudhakaran’s success was fuelled by significant support from traditionally Left-leaning constituencies like Taliparamba, Mattanur, Azhikode and Dharmadam.

In one of Kerala’s most tightly contested elections in recent years, sitting MP Adoor Prakash of the UDF narrowly defeated V. Joy of the LDF in the Attingal Lok Sabha constituency by just 684 votes.

Initially, Prakash had a lead of 1,708 votes after the normal rounds of counting. However, the LDF demanded a recount, which reduced the margin. Subsequently, the LDF requested a count of the rejected postal ballots, causing a delay in the final result declaration. Despite these efforts, the LDF was unable to reclaim the stronghold it had lost to the UDF in 2019 after three consecutive victories.

Prakash garnered 3,28,051 votes, narrowly beating Joy, who received 3,27,367 votes. Union minister of state for external affairs V. Muraleedharan, the BJP candidate, secured 3,11,779 votes, turning it into a tight three-way race. The BJP saw its vote share rise from 24.97% to 31.64%, with an increase of over 59,000 votes compared to the 2019 general elections, making inroads into some traditional LDF and UDF strongholds. This marks a significant growth from 2014, when the party secured only 10% of the votes. Notably, despite the close competition among the top three candidates, NOTA emerged fourth with 9,791 votes.

K. Radhakrishnan, the sitting minister for welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, Devaswoms, parliamentary affairs of the Government of Kerala, emerged as a beacon of hope for the LDF amidst the overwhelming victory of the UDF in the State. His triumph over UDF incumbent Ramya Haridas by a margin of 20,111 votes in Alathur secured his position as the sole LDF representative from Kerala in the 18th Lok Sabha.

Radhakrishnan secured 4,03,447 votes (40.66%), surpassing Haridas who received 3,83,336 votes (38.63%), out of the total 9,92,268 votes counted. His victory is particularly remarkable given the challenging circumstances amidst a sweeping victory for the UDF across the state.

In Alathur, where the BJP’s influence is perceived to be limited, Sarasu garnered 1.88 lakh votes (19%), a significant increase from the 89,837 votes (8.82%) received by NDA candidate T.V. Babu in 2019.

Discontent with the eight-year rule of the Left Front government significantly influenced the favour towards the UDF. Initial evaluations of the election results indicate a noticeable shift in support from minority Muslim and Christian voters in Kerala, who previously backed the LDF in the 2021 assembly elections, towards the Congress.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), enacted by the BJP government shortly before the election schedule announcement, emerged as a focal point for the LDF’s campaign in Kerala. While criticising the Congress for its stance on the CAA, the LDF accused the party of taking a soft Hindutva approach and lacking clarity on the issue. However, on the ground, minorities, apprehensive about the potential return of the BJP for a third term, felt that the Left’s influence was predominantly limited to Kerala and had little impact on a national level in countering the BJP.

The NDA not only achieved its inaugural victory in Kerala but also played a substantial role in augmenting the overall vote share that bolstered the UDF’s stronghold across various constituencies. This highlights the growing influence and impact of the BJP-led coalition in the state’s political landscape.

Anusha Paul is a journalist based in Kerala.

UDF MPs From Kerala Allegedly ‘Manhandled’ by Delhi Police During Protest Against K-Rail Project

The SilverLine project of the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala has been facing massive protests over the survey and marking of the corridor boundary, and is embroiled in a political controversy.

New Delhi: United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs from Kerala on Thursday alleged that they were “attacked and manhandled” by Delhi police personnel during their protest against the proposed semi-high-speed K-Rail-Silverline Project in the state.

Raising the issue in Lok Sabha soon after the Question Hour, Congress member K. Suresh said a total of 12 MPs, including women parliamentarians, had started their protest march from Vijay Chowk at 10:45 am on Thursday when Delhi police personnel came and “blocked them without any provocation”.

“We told them we were MPs. They (police) said you (protesting MPs) are shouting slogans. We said it is our right to shout slogans. They assaulted us, manhandled us, pushed us without any provocation,” Suresh told Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

The SilverLine project of the CPI(M)-led government in Kerala has been facing massive protests over the survey and marking of the corridor boundary, and is embroiled in a political controversy. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital on Thursday.

RSP member N.K. Premchandran called the incident “unfortunate” and said the police personnel were well aware that all those participating in the protest were MPs, but still did not allow them to enter the parliament complex.

“This is a question of our privilege. They even came to the precincts of parliament and prevented us,” he said and asked, “What is the authority of Delhi police to forcibly prevent the MPs from entering parliament.”

After hearing the members, the speaker said that he will discuss the matter with them and then speak to the concerned officers.

“You have given me (raised the grievance) in writing also,” he added.

Raising the matter in Rajya Sabha, Congress member K.C. Venugopal said when the MPs were returning to Parliament after their peaceful demonstration, Delhi police “literally” stopped and manhandled them, including a woman MP.

Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu asked the Congress member to provide the details of the incident, saying he will find out from the home ministry.

(PTI)

Kerala Polls: Key Faces to Look Out for on Election Results Day

The state election results are scheduled to be declared on May 2.

New Delhi: In the run-up to the single phase election for 140 assembly seats, Kerala witnessed a fierce campaign led by the ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP-led NDA, which hopes to fracture the decades-old bipolar polity led by UDF and LDF. The state election results are scheduled to be declared on May 2.

Here are some of the key candidates to keep an eye out for on May 2.

Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI (M)

The chief-ministerial candidate for the CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan is seeking re-election from his constituency Dharmadam. Since the pandemic hit last year, he has often been referred to as “Kerala’s captain” for handling the outbreak well. He is also known to have managed the aftermath of the devastating floods in 2018 with a spirit of collective combat. This is what the LDF is counting on – good governance – which Vijayan made clear in a campaign speech for the LDF. “Our Kerala has gone through successive disasters, and when people were in despair, we stood by the people,” he said.

After entering politics through student union activities at the Government Brennen College in Thalassery, Vijayan officially joined the CPI(M) at the age of 19. Known as a hardcore communist, he finally became the state’s chief minister in 2016 at the age of 71. He had previously served in the government of Kerala as Minister of Electric Power and Co-operatives from 1996 to 1998. He is also known to rule with an iron fist, as all power in Kerala’s CPI(M) lies with him. He is an Ezhava by caste, the OBC community which forms almost 23% of Kerala’s people. He calls himself a “toddy tapper’s son” – harvesting toddy from palm trees is traditionally done by low-caste communities – and wears his caste identity proudly.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Photo: PTI

Congress-led UDF and the BJP both have targeted the Pinarayi Vijayan government for implementing the 2018 Supreme Court order allowing women to enter the Sabarimala temple. However, local journalists say that Sabarimala is not an electoral issue on the ground level. Serious allegations of corruption have also been leveled against Vijayan such as the gold smuggling scam of 2020, in which the main accused is Swapna Suresh, a woman believed to have links with a former principal secretary of the chief minister’s office. The NIA, ED and custom officials are probing the case. In its two-year progress report in 2018, the CPI(M) claimed that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government had fulfilled more than 500 of its over 600 poll promises mentioned in the election manifesto.

Also read: The 2021 Kerala State Election Will Be Historic. Here’s Why.

Vijayan has shown that he handles crises well. But will that be enough to give him another round in office this time?

He is up against BJP’s former state president C.K. Padmanabhan, UDF candidate C. Raghunath, District Congress Committee secretary, and independent candidate Bhagyavathi, the Walayar sisters’ mother.

Kummanam Rajasekharan, BJP

Former governor of Mizoram, Kummanam Rajasekharan is the BJP’s candidate for Nemom, an important seat in Thiruvananthapuram for the BJP to retain, as it was the only seat the party had managed to win in the previous elections.

Rajasekharan’s performance in this election is being viewed as a possible verdict on whether the BJP has succeeded in making any space in the southern state where the saffron is seen as a third option as a tough fight ensues between CPI(M) led-LDF and Congress-led UDF. BJP considers Nemom to be its “laboratory” for expansion plans in Kerala, some say. Reason? Rajasekharan’s statement, that “it [Nemom] was the party’s Gujarat and battle for Kerala will begin here,” drawing parallels with BJP’s popularity in Gujarat.

BJP’s Kummanam Rajasekharan campaigning before the Kerala assembly elections 2021. Photo: Twitter/Kummanam

Currently an administrative member of the Padmanabha Swamy temple, the far-right leader was also the first BJP member from Kerala to become a governor. He started out his political career by joining the RSS and Sangh Parivar in Kerala in 1970, at the early age of 18. Since then, he has been a member of countless Hindu organisations in varying capacities. Between 2015 to 2018, he was appointed state president of the BJP.

Also read: What BJP Votes Will Mean for the Kerala Assembly Elections

In December 2015, a communal statement he gave led to protests in the state. “Vendors from other religions shouldn’t be allowed in temple premises and temple committees could decide on letting vendors from other religions operate at temple premises,” Rajasekharan had said. A police case was registered against him when he circulated a fake video on his social media accounts claiming that CPI(M) men celebrated the murder of an RSS worker. PRISM (People’s Representation for Identity and Status of Mizoram), an anti-corruption organisation turned political party in 2018 called him a “radical Hindu leader” and “anti-secular” and demanded – just days after his swearing-in as governor of Mizoram – his removal from office.

CPI(M) has fielded V. Sivankutty, who represented the seat in 2011 before losing it to BJP’s O. Rajagopal in 2016, to take back its former stronghold seat. The Congress candidate for this seat, K. Muraleedharan, a sitting MP from Vadakara, is the son of former chief minister K. Karunakaran, who represented Nemom in 1982.

Noorbeena Rasheed, IUML

Noorbina Rasheed, IUML candidate contesting from Kozhikode South constituency in Malabar is the first woman to be fielded by the IUML party in 25 years. Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala was established in 1948 and is a prominent regional party in the state.

A 72-year-old party with C.H. Mohommed Koya as CM of Kerala for a brief period and representation in the UPA 1 cabinet, as well as the second-largest UDF ally has never had a woman representative in the assembly. The Indian Union Women’s League (IUWL), the women’s wing of the party founded by Rasheed demands representation during every assembly election and it is after 25 years that their demand has been met through Rasheed’s nomination.

Noorbina Rashid, Indian Union of Muslim League’s candidate from Kozhikode South constituency for the Kerala assembly elections of April 2021. Photo: Twitter.

Noorbina also bats for 50% reservation for women in elections. “Certainly, that needs to be increased. I believe the only way that can be done is through the passage of the women’s reservation bill,” she said. A practicing lawyer, Rasheed had moved to Supreme Court in 2020 against the criminalisation of the triple talaq, becoming the first Muslim woman to do so since the law came into effect in 2019.

She was a member of the Kerala Women’s Commission during the tenure of the UDF government last time.

The seat is a traditional stronghold of the IUML. Noorbina is up against BJP’s Navya Haridas. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) has fielded a male candidate, Ahammed Devarkovil, general secretary of the Indian National League (INL).

Watch | Kerala: Can LDF Win Another Term in Office?

Bhagyavathi, Independent

Known as the Walayar sisters’ mother, Bhagyavathi is up against CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan in Dharmadam. She is the mother of the two minor sisters from Walayar in Palakkad, who were mysteriously found dead in their house in a span of less than three months in 2017.

Valayar Bhagyavathi. Photo: eci.gov.in

Bhagyavathi, along with her husband had conducted a series of protests ever since the accused in the case were acquitted by the trial court in 2019. It had also led to a public outcry and state-wide protests in the state. She is contesting the election as a protest over the Kerala government’s “inaction” against those who had been probed in the case. As for the Kerala government, Pinarayi had said that the party had no guilt whatsoever regarding their handling of the case.

Recently in 2021, the case was handed over to the CBI by the Kerala government after the Kerala high court ordered a retrial, observing “serious lapses” in the probe. The court also said that there has been a “miscarriage of justice” in the case.

During her campaign, Bhagyavathi went on a “Neethi Yatra” (journey for justice) from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, demanding action against the accused in her daughters’ case.

“I will contest against Pinarayi Vijayan as an independent. Except for the Sangh Parivar, we will take the support of everyone,” she had announced while speaking to reporters in Thrissur. Besides Vijayan, she is also up against BJP’s former state president C.K. Padmanabhan and UDF candidate C. Raghunath, District Congress Committee secretary.

Between the UDF which waited till the eleventh hour to find a candidate for the seat and the BJP’s Padmanabhan who could manage to get 4.83% of the total votes polled in the 2018 Lok Sabha elections, it seems that Bhagyavathi may provide the real challenge to Pinarayi Vijayan.

Also read: Kerala: Welfarism Remains the Dominant Narrative, but There Is an Undercurrent of Phobia

Aritha Babu, Congress

Twenty-seven-year-old Aritha Babu made headlines for being the youngest candidate of the Congress for the 2021 Kerala assembly elections. Fielded from her native area of Kayamkulam in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, Aritha is contesting against U. Prathiba, CPI(M)’s leading and sitting Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Kayamkulam.

The Congress is banking on her humble background. “She hails from a marginalised community. She sells the milk from her cow every day to make a living and support her family. She spends the rest of her time towards various social and political works. She is the Congress party’s model candidate. The party is proud to field her,” KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said while introducing her.

Rahul Gandhi campaigns alongside Aritha Babu in Kayamkulam before the Kerala assembly elections 2021. Photo: Twitter/iamvijayvasanth

A post-graduate in Social Works and presently pursuing her Masters in Commerce, Aritha was previously elected to Alappuzha District Panchayat and was the youngest District Panchayat member.

Aritha pushed forward her plans of getting married. “Marriage can wait,” she said. Aritha Babu is an example of attempts by the Congress party in Kerala to decentralise power. Another example is Sobha Subin, Congress candidate from Kaipamangalam in Thrissur. He earned his living as a newspaper delivery boy and a fisherman after being orphaned at a young age when his father was sent to jail for murdering his mother. The CPI (M) has also nominated several such candidates.

2021 Polls: What Does Data on Land Conflicts in Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu Show?

Issues of land acquisition and land rights are especially contentious in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and feature prominently in poll promises being made by the incumbent parties.

The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal famously came to office 10 years ago following the party’s vocal support for communities involved in the Singur and Nandigram land conflicts.

In Singur, the incumbent CPI(M) government had acquired land without the consent of landowners, and allotted it to Tata Motors Limited to build its Nano car factory. Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee went on a hunger strike in 2006, which galvanised the movement against the factory, forcing the company to abandon its project and eventually ended the CPI(M)’s 37-year old government.

As West Bengal goes to the polls, it is worth asking: how did the Trinamool Congress government led by Banerjee as chief minister fare on land conflicts in its own 10 years of tenure? Did it also cause land conflicts? Were these conflicts over industries like the Nano factory? Did the government try to resolve them?

Contested Grounds, an analysis of land conflicts in the four states going to polls in March-May 2021 – West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu – seeks to answer these questions. The analysis has been prepared by Land Conflict Watch (LCW), an independent network of researchers studying natural resource conflicts in India, and is based on data from LCW’s database of nearly 800 ongoing land conflicts in India.

The full report, which includes detailed state-wise analysis and downloadable data, is available here. This article lays out summaries of its findings.

LCW defines land conflicts as “any instance in which the use of, access to, and/or control over land and its associated resources are contested by two or more parties.” This excludes conflicts between private parties unless the conflict has an underlying public interest. Conflicts are reported by 30+ data researchers located across India.

The report is based on data from 18 conflicts from Assam, 17 from Kerala, 15 from Tamil Nadu and 17 from West Bengal, all which have been updated as of early 2021. The database does not yet have any land conflicts from Puducherry as yet (inform us here if you know of one).

The analysis is based on 12 parameters measured for each conflict such as starting year, cause of the conflict, economic sector involved, legal framework, legal loopholes, and human rights violations. It also captures information on resolution of conflicts and the role played by courts in the process.

What did we find?

The analysis finds that each of the four states going to polls has unique and varied issues causing and escalating land conflicts.

Eight conflicts began in West Bengal during the Trinamool government’s tenure, while the government resolved two conflicts. Coal mining is a major cause of conflicts. There is more on this in the state-specific sections below.

More than half of the conflicts in Assam demonstrably originate from the idea of the “other” – ranging from the eviction of forest dwellers termed as encroachers or the targeting of immigrant settlements through eviction drives.

Citizens stand in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station, during the third phase of Assam Assembly elections, in Guwahati, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Photo: PTI

Tamil Nadu and Kerala are struggling with conflicts caused by environmental degradation and poor implementation of environmental laws.

Issues of land acquisition and land rights are especially contentious in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and feature prominently in poll promises being made by the incumbent parties.

Several conflicts taking place along Kerala’s famous coastline highlight the growing risk of coastal erosion and the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority’s failure to regulate projects.

No state has more than two conflicts which have been resolved, and the cause of resolution is rarely related to the court’s decision.

There are a number of instances in which law enforcement mechanisms have been misused by the state, leading to human rights violations. There are six such reported instances in Assam, four in West Bengal, three in Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala.

State-wise trends

West Bengal

There are 17 conflicts from West Bengal in the database. Over 2.2 lakh people and investments worth INR 76,722 crore are affected by the conflicts. Infrastructure is the largest economic sector associated with conflict, with land acquisition being the most contentious issue among reported conflicts. Refusal to give up land for projects and demands for promised compensation are the most prominent demands by affected communities. Coal mining is the leading cause of conflict, with instances such as workers’ demand for compensation from the Durgapur Projects Limited and the demand for jobs and compensation for land acquired for mining by Eastern Coalfields Limited.

Also read: Author Manoranjan Byapari Is on a Mission to ‘Save Bengal’s Soul’

During its tenure, the TMC government has seen eight conflicts emerge during its rule in the state. Notably, two conflicts in West Bengal ended when the demands of the community were met by the TMC government: the state government has started returning land which was acquired illegally from farmers in Kawakhali, and has changed its contentious power grid plan in Bhangar following people’s protests.

Assam

The incumbent BJP government in the state led by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has assured that the state would be “free” of those who encroach upon land and protect the identity of those in the state. The party has promised to end what it calls ‘land jihad’ in the state – referring to the long standing conflict between the indigenous Assamese population and Bengali Muslim immigrants – by issuing land pattas to indigenous Assamese communities and evicting immigrants.

Out of 18 ongoing conflicts in Assam in the database, six conflicts started under the tenure of the incumbent BJP government, six under the Indian National Congress governments that preceded it, and four conflicts began under the Asom Gana Parishad government.

Also read: Why Alliance With Ajmal’s AUDF May Not Help Assam Congress Resolve its ‘Muslim Dilemma’

More than 66% of the conflicts involve the forced eviction of families from their homes – many such evictions followed their branding as ‘encroachers’. A number of conflicts in Assam, such as the Sipajhar conflict and the displacement of flood-affected people from riverine areas, have been exacerbated by anti-immigrant sentiment. Eviction drives often target settlements of indigenous communities.

Kerala

There are 17 ongoing conflicts in Kerala in the LCW database, out of which 11 began under the incumbent Left Front government led by the CPI(M) and six began during the tenure of the previous United Democratic Front government led by the Indian National Congress.

Opposition against environmental degradation is the most prevalent demand by affected communities. Infrastructure is a prevalent economic sector pertaining to conflicts, with a number of instances of controversial land acquisition by the government.

Environmental law is applicable to eight conflicts with six conflicts reporting violations of environmental legislations. Kerala has a significant number of coastal projects – both private and state-funded, that are in violation of the CRZ Notification, 2011.

Also read: Kerala Assembly Elections: As Political Currents Shift, Which Way Will Christians Vote?

The construction of apartments and seaports and sand mining have led to an increased risk of coastal erosion which harms marine ecology and puts coastal residents at risk.

Two conflicts in Kerala have ended: the UDF government shelved the land acquisition for the KINFRA Industrial Plan project, and the opposition to acquisition for the Edamon-Kochi power line ended when the community’s demands regarding compensation were met by the CPI(M) government.

Tamil Nadu

There are 15 conflicts from Tamil Nadu in the database, of which 10 conflicts began during the tenure of the incumbent AIADMK government. The conflicts affect an investment amount worth INR 1,12,565 crore.

Some of these conflicts, such as protests against the Adani port expansion at Kattupalli and demonstrations against Sterlite copper smelter plant in Thoothukudi where 13 people were shot dead by police in 2018, were covered widely in the media.

The State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), a state government entity, is responsible for the largest number of reported conflicts from Tamil Nadu. Delay in acquisition is a common trend across conflicts pertaining to both SIPCOT and other government entities such as the Airports Authority of India.

Also read: ‘BJP Trojan Horse’, ‘Left Winger’: Vagueness at the Heart of Kamal Haasan’s Politics

Two conflicts have ended. In one, the Madras High Court allowed the takeover of land in Thiruvallur for an Industrial Park. At Krishnagiri, protests against land acquisition by SIPCOT died down. Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam of the AIADMK has now promised that it will scrap projects such as the expansion of the Adani and Kanyakumari ports, if it is voted back to power.

Mukta Joshi is a lawyer with Land Conflict Watch and tweets at @mukta_jo.

Kerala Assembly Polls: Congress Pulls Out All the Stops for a ‘Do-or-Die’ Battle

Despite the fact that it faced a drubbing in last year’s local body polls, the Congress, instead of getting into factionalism this time around, regrouped itself and sharpened its campaign strategy.

Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam: When The Wire reached the election committee office of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Poojappura of Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram, the candidate K. Muraleedharan was addressing a small gathering of Youth Congress workers, briefing them of the tasks to be carried out as part of the campaign.

Nemom has been the cynosure of all eyes in this election, acquiring the attention from across the state and even in the national media, as the UDF has taken it as a do-or-die contest by fielding one of its senior leaders who is also a member of parliament.

It is the first and the only seat that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) have in this outgoing assembly. O. Rajagopal, a senior BJP leader and former union minister, had sprung a surprise last time by wresting the seat from the CPI (M) beating the incumbent MLA, V.Sivankutty, thanks to an unbelievably dismal show by the UDF.

Also read: Kerala: Welfarism Remains the Dominant Narrative, but There Is an Undercurrent of Phobia

The UDF candidate only managed to secure 13,860 votes and had to forfeit his deposit amount. The CPI(M) and the Left front had been making it a point that the UDF traded votes with the BJP for their first-ever electoral victory in the history of the Kerala assembly. In the 2011 elections also, the Congress candidate had polled a mere 20,248 votes, allowing the BJP candidate to finish second behind the CPI(M).

It was the Congress high command’s suggestion to field a senior leader from Nemom eyeing the optics – which could effectively counter the “canards” spread by the LDF that the BJP and Congress are playing a friendly match – changed the entire scenario. Former chief minister Oommen Chandy was the first name to be considered for Nemom as the Congress leadership believed that his candidature at Nemom would have an effect on the Muslim votes across the state.

Congress senior leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Oomen Chandy releasing the UDF manifesto. Photo: Twitter/ Ramesh Chennithala.

“Oommen Chandy was willing to contest from Nemom, but considering the risk of losing his sitting seat – where he is an MLA for the last five decades – in his absence, the party decided against it. I have been the MLA of the neighbouring Vattiyoorkkavu for eight years, and I am familiar with the territory which made me the natural choice,” says K. Muraleedharan.

It seemed like he is facing an uphill task, where the Congress party hardly has any organisational strength. Muraleedharan will have to build from the scratch and he knows it very well. “It’s quite natural that the workers getting dejected given the drubbing we got in the last two elections, but things are getting better now and we are already on track in no time. We have left the past behind and this time the UDF will be winning, no matter who ends up second,” he exudes confidence.

If Nemom is to be taken as a cue, it’s evident that both fronts think that championing the anti-BJP tirade is the key to victory in Kerala.

An all-important battle for Congress

After the totally unexpected drubbing in the local body elections, the leaders of the Congress-led UDF toiled it hard to get themselves back on track with some success. Unlike in the past, after an initial blame game, the group/faction managers inside the Congress party understood the danger of letting it go this time as this assembly elections could well be the ‘last bus’ for them.

The first thing they did after the election debacle was to regroup and constitute a high-level committee with former chief minister Oommen Chandy at its helm. The list of candidates also looked fresh as more than 50% of the ‘fighting seats’ were given to the youth and newcomers except for the sitting MLAs.

According to the party leadership, the seat distribution was quiet and eventless, barring the rebellion by Lathika Subhash, the president of the Women’s Congress, who tonsured her head at the KPCC office in protest against the poor representation of women in the Congress’ list. She is contesting as a rebel candidate from the Ettumanoor constituency of Kottayam district where she also was denied a ticket.

Also read: Model Code of Conduct Is ‘Conveniently Violated’: Kerala CM Writes to EC Against ED Probe

“The way I was sidelined during the election is not an exception but the rule when it comes to women’s representation across the party lines,” says Lathika Subhash. “I was not an ordinary party worker. When I was denied the ticket, I was the state chief of the Mahila Congress. If the Student wing president K M. Abhijith and Youth Congress president Shafi Parambil get tickets naturally, why not the president of the women’s wing?”

The Congress leaders, including A. K. Antony and Oommen Chandy, who had been her mentor for long years shrugged it off as she announced her candidature as an independent.

The subtle swing of the minority votes is the key factor that determines the win-loss equation in Kerala. In the recent local body polls, it is evident that the Christian community votes have been swayed in favour of the LDF, thanks to Kerala Congress (M) jumping the ship after the discord with the UDF over the chairmanship of Kottayam district panchayat.

A resurgent Congress

The erosion of votes in central Kerala, which had been a traditional UDF stronghold, did the undoing of the UDF. At the same time, in the Muslim dominated northern Kerala, the UDF did comparatively well, with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second biggest constituent in the UDF, holding its forts in the Malappuram district in particular. But apart from the district, the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act/National Register of Citizens stance of the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been attracting the Muslim voters too.

This was not the scenario before the local self-government (LSG) elections. The Pinarayi government was reeling under controversies after controversies looming over. The gold smuggling case and the arrest of M. Shivshankar, the principal secretary to the chief minister, have put it on the back foot, but Vijayan weathered it all riding on the popularity of the government, mainly because of the welfare measures and crisis management skills during the repeated disasters from flood to the pandemic.

Even after the LSG polls, there have been many issues for the opposition on which to design their campaign, ranging from the inconclusive gold smuggling case and the recent deep-sea fishing controversy to unemployment and nepotism of the ruling LDF government, but most of the senior UDF leaders seem to be sticking on to the Sabarimala controversy. All most all the leaders and candidates, with an exception of V.T. Balram of Thrithala, who has openly backed women’s entry into the temple, rake up the issue of the government ‘aiding’ women activists to enter the Sabarimala shrine.

“They tried to take women activists to the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala shrine with a police escort to break the rituals. Keralites will never forget it nor forgive him. Pinarayi Vijayan will bear the consequences of it from voters of Kerala on 6 April,” says A. K. Antony, whose words pretty much sum up the campaign by the UDF, which has promised to bring in legislation to protect the tradition and rituals of Sabarimala in its election manifesto. Interestingly the NDA manifesto too makes the same promise.

Kerala Congress President Ramesh Chennithala addressing a campaign rally. Photo: Ramesh Chennithala

Even Bindu Krishna, the district Congress committee (DCC) president of Kollam and UDF candidate, who had backed the Supreme Court judgement allowing women’s entry to Sabarimala seems to have mellowed down.

“I am a devotee who has tremendous faith in Sabarimala Ayyappa. I am in favour of women’s entry in Sabarimala, only if it does not contravene the customs or tradition of the temple,” says Bindu when this author met her at Kollam during the lunch break on her campaign trail.

“Those women who entered Sabarimala were not devotees, but activists. Pinarayi Vijayan has hurt the feelings of genuine devotees like me by aiding them to get there with police protection. It is indeed an election issue here,” adds Bindu.

Also read: Is the Anti-CAA Rhetoric Enough for Pinarayi Vijayan to Garner Traditional Muslims’ Support?

No UDF candidates, inclusive of the IUML nominees, are refraining from raking up the Sabarimala issue.

Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala’s petition to stop the Kerala government from distributing rice to school students, welfare pensions and Easter-Vishu food kits are some of the latest highlights from the UDF’s campaign.

Chief minister Pinarayi has cried foul as the decision was not taken after the model code of conduct came into effect. He asserted that UDF will have to pay dearly for derailing the pro-people measures during the festive season.

On the other hand, Chennithala in his tweet said, “Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should answer to the people on why the rice disbursement was kept pending for last 8 months and why you want to disburse it just before elections. It’s not strange that LDF remembers people only at the eve of elections.”

As the welfare schemes, including the pension for the elderly, becoming the trump card of the Vijayan government, many inside the Congress also are wary about the Opposition Leader’s decision to approach the Election Commission to stall the rice distribution.

“I am not very sure that it was a wise move, at this point in time. Our leaders could have tread carefully on this matter, as the welfare pension and the food kit are very popular among the voters,” says an IUML worker on the condition of anonymity.

The UDF seems to have taken a double-pronged attack, taking on the CPI (M) alleging that it is hurting the feelings of both the Muslim and Hindu community, instead of criticising any governmental inaction and policies.

On the ground, the Congress workers and the IUML leaders are desperately trying anything and everything to hit hard at the government, as they all know this is a do-or-die situation for them.

Rajeev Ramachandran is an independent journalist based in Kochi.

Ahead of Assembly Polls, Kerala CM Vijayan Says No Debate Needed on Sabarimala Issue

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there was nothing to be discussed as the review pleas against allowing women into the hill shrine are before the Supreme Court.

Malappuram (Kerala): Seeking to put the Sabarimala issue on the back-burner in poll-bound Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said there was nothing to be discussed or debated now as the review pleas against allowing women in 10-50 age group into the hill shrine are before the Supreme Court.

“Whenever the court pronounces the final verdict and if it concerns the devotees in any manner, then at that time the government will hold discussion with all the sections of the society and take necessary steps,” he told reporters here in response to a question.

His remarks came amid demands by the opposition Congress, BJP and others that he clarify his position in the wake of contradictory views expressed by a minister and the CPI(M) top leadership over the issue.

Vijayan was responding to a query on CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury rejecting state Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran’s expression of regret over the incidents witnessed in the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa in 2018.

Sabarimala and several other parts of the state were then rocked by protests against the ‘hasty’ decision of the Left Democratic Front government to implement the apex court verdict allowing women of all age groups to enter the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

Also read: Kerala Government to Withdraw Sabarimala, Anti-CAA Protest Cases

The issue has come back into focus during the campaign for the April 6, 2021 assembly elections, with Congress and BJP attacking the ruling front.

“The incidents that took place in Sabarimala in 2018 [were] something which had pained all of us. It should never have happened. It has pained everyone…it has pained me also,” Surendran told television channels last week. He had also said the final verdict of the Supreme Court would be implemented only after consultations with believers, political parties and the general public.

Speaking to reporters in Delhi on Tuesday, Yechury had said he was not aware of the reason why Surendran expressed regret. “The party stance on the matter remains the same. It was the apex court which pronounced the verdict allowing women of all age to enter the temple, and the state government was duty-bound to implement the verdict,” he had said.

Union minister V. Muraleedharan said the chief minister should respond to Yechury’s stand.

Leader of the opposition in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress accused Vijayan of deceiving the devotees of the state and said he should stop fooling people. “Has he [Pinarayi] got the guts to stand by his earlier stance on Sabarimala? I challenge him. If he has got any decency, he should apologise to the people of the state saying his stand was wrong,” he told reporters in Haripad, his constituency, from where he was elected for the fourth time in 2016.

Also read: Sabarimala Verdict: Will LDF Champion Women’s Rights Even After LS Polls Drubbing?

Nair Service Society general secretary Sukumaran Nair said the government and the chief minister have a moral responsibility to clarify their position on the Sabarimala issue.

Dr S.S. Lal, the United Democratic Front candidate from Kazhakootam, where Surendran is also contesting, wanted to know if the latter would reject the statement of Yechury.

On the allegation by BJP leader R. Balashankar that there was a “deal” between the saffron party and CPI(M) in various constituencies, including Chengannur and Konni, Vijayan described it as an internal matter of the BJP. “I don’t know whether he was expecting a seat or he had demanded a seat from the party. It does not affect us. We just want to make it clear once again that we don’t need the support of any communal parties to win the election,” he said.

The voters understand that development is the agenda of this election and nothing else, he added. The chief minister alleged that the BJP and the Congress have hatched a conspiracy to torpedo the development aspects of the state.

The BJP has termed Balashankar’s remarks as an emotional outburst of a person disappointed over denial of a seat.

P.C. Thomas-Led Kerala Congress Leaves NDA, Will Merge With P.J. Joseph’s Faction

Thomas said he has decided to quit the NDA over seat-sharing.

Kochi: The Kerala Congress headed by former Union minister P.C. Thomas on Wednesday quit the NDA, alleging that his party was neglected by the BJP-led alliance when the seats were allocated for the April 6, 2021 polls.

The faction led by Thomas would merge with the Kerala Congress headed by senior leader P.J. Joseph, which is a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

Thomas was elected as MP on the NDA ticket from then Muvattupuzha seat in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. The Kerala Congress leader, who was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, said his party was given four seats in the 2016 assembly polls but not a single seat was allocated this time.

Thomas said the BJP leadership had offered him the Pala assembly seat, but he did not opt for it due to some personal reasons.

The Joseph-led Kerala Congress said both the parties will merge on Wednesday. It said Thomas has agreed to accept P.J. Joseph as the party’s chairman and leader.

How the Spectre of Hindutva Captured Politics in Kerala

Despite its lack of direct involvement in the state’s politics, the BJP’s actions have captured the state’s agenda and propelled parties to pander to a sense of fearmongering.

Hannah Arendt, a Jew who narrowly escaped Hitler’s final design for the likes of her, points to the moral collapse the political phenomenon Nazism caused not just among the perpetrators, the majority German Christians but also among its victims, the Jews. When fear starts its rule, it disorients and takes away all questions of ethics from everybody around, observed Hannah Arendt.

Kerala, a state often seen to be exceptional, based on achievements in the human development indices and counted as a political antidote to the Indian mainstream, seems to be demonstrating the Arendtian syndrome in the electoral scene, with local body elections just around the corner and assembly elections scheduled for next year.

In the coming local body elections, the United Democratic Front, led by the Indian National Congress with the Indian Union Muslim League as a powerful member, is moving towards closing a deal with the Welfare Party of India, an electoral outfit backed by the Jamaat-e-Islami.

This seemingly minor electoral consideration, which may very well fail to materialise, is symptomatic of what happens to the political imagination under certain circumstances. The Indian Union Muslim League is a regional party in northern Kerala which works for the communitarian empowerment of Muslims through social development. A party of largely subaltern Muslim masses, the league functions like a Muslim BSP or RJD.

As Kerala has historically worked along the lines of community reformation and political consolidation among Nairs, Ezhavas, Christians and Dalits, this model was neither demonised nor rejected – a clear proof of the party’s solid presence in the legislative assembly, with its visionary stalwart leader, C.H. Muhammed Koya having served as the state’s chief minister as well.

Watch | Ponnani: Will the Indian Union Muslim League Lose Its Kerala Stronghold?

One of the key reasons for the general acceptance of Indian Union Muslim League was its categorical opposition to the idea of a theocratic state, which is at the core of the Jamaat-e-Islami’s theoretical framework formulated by Maulana Abul A’ala Maududi. For perspective, the Indian Union Muslim League would be akin to the BJP, if the BJP was categorically opposed to the RSS objective of creating a Hindu rashtra.

The Jamaat-e-Islami, as a party, has never aligned with the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala, since its foundation in 1948. Moreover, the Jamaat-e-Islami has not only been attacking Indian Union Muslim League all these decades as an organisation but has also questioned its attempts to become a part of the mainstream, which according to JEI’s world view, is apologetic. So, this alliance, if finalised despite opposition, will be the first of its kind.

With the ideological incompatibility persisting, how did the IUML and JIH, which many fear will give political legitimacy to the JIH and change the very character of Indian Union Muslim League, begin to coalesce around a shared electoral adjustment?

One answer might be the fear prevalent in the minds of Malayali Muslims. Unlike the North Indian lower class Muslims and their ethical assertion after Shaheen Bagh and other movements surrounding anti-CAA events, where constitutional nationalism emerged as a clear way forward, Kerala’s largely middle class, politically solid and economically strong Muslim community is apprehensive, even though the BJP has only one MLA and no MP in the state. Though Islamists are demographically minuscule and irrelevant, their space in political discussions in Kerala has increased with the rise of Hindutva.

The fear that in Modi’s India, Muslims will go through a degradation – which will eventually lead to an ethnic cleansing – is being felt and responded to frantically in the state. This fear has brought in an overwhelming sentiment that Muslims must band together, without questioning fundamental ideological differences or raising ethical issues. While the Kerala Jamaat-e-Islami in no way poses a threat anywhere close to the ones in Pakistan and Bangladesh, it raises a crucial ethical conundrum: how does one oppose religious nationalism by using another sort of religious nationalism?

The youth wings of the most powerful religious organisations of Kerala Muslims, Samastha Kerala Sunni Student Federation and different sections of Kerala Nadwathul Mujahideen, have adopted a very strong position against the Indian Union Muslim League going into any alliance with a religio-political party like the Jamaat-e-Islami. This ethical stand against Islamism has been second nature to these organisations and they have always succeeded due to their much larger popular base.

Also read: Sabarimala Verdict: A Godsend for the Hindutva Brigade

But even so, these organisations are struggling this time due to the shift in the political environment, controlled by Hindutva and the resultant fear that politicians are trying to exploit. If they do manage to convince the Indian Union Muslim League and the United Democratic Front, led by Indian National Congress, to retract from these discussions, it will be a huge ethical win for the idea of secular democracy.

Nationally, the Indian National Congress stands to lose significantly from such an alliance since the Jamaat-e-Islami has been associated with a tarnished reputation – it was banned along with the RSS, by Indira Gandhi during the Emergency.

Maulana Maududi’s conviction by a Pakistani court for involvement in the anti-Ahmadi riots and his supporter’s role in the Bangladesh genocide have also not helped the organisation’s reputation.

Till the Welfare Party denounces Maulana Maududi theoretically (practically they actually have, since 1977) and rejects his brand of Muslim majoritarianism categorically, this impression is likely to stay. But the cynical state Congress leaders are only interested in consolidating power in their region with alarming short-sightedness. Congress leaders are trying to balance out an Islamist alliance by visiting Hindutva leaders and making pro-Hindutva statements (Congress Hindu and Muslim leaders seem to take turns for this)!

The Communist Party of India Marxist, the ruling party of the state, is also not free from such fears and missteps. In the IUML and JEI alliance, it sees an opportunity to whip up fear amongst Hindus and play soft Hindutva card against the perceived consolidation of Muslims.

Sabarimala, BJP, Sabarimala entry, Sabarimala news, Supreme Court, Supreme Court on Sabarimala

A protest against the Supreme Court’s Sabarimala verdict in Chikmagalur on October 31. Credit: PTI

The CPIM is paranoid about the BJP’s consolidated and powerful propaganda tools, perceived media witch-hunts into corruption cases and the Congress’s ploy to make the CPIM appear to be anti-Hindu when the issue of entry into the Sabarimala temple was at its height. Through an alliance with the Kerala Congress, the Christian variant of the IUML, and the use of Hindutva rhetoric, the CPIM is hoping to stay hold its ground during elections.

The common thread amongst the parties involved is that they are all pandering to fear, with a sense of victimhood and are cynically trying to retain their constituencies while burning all bridges around.

Also read: BJP Won’t Capture Kerala Yet But RSS Culture Is Sweeping the State

Between these three, the BJP now has no ground or organisational capacity to intervene in. While the party looks strangely innocuous in Kerala’s scheme of things, its impact in the state cannot be understated. The BJP’s agenda has taken over political imagination and destabilised the parties in the state to the point that they are doing exactly what the BJP, in the long run, would want them to.

The people of Kerala have the possibility to create a new political culture, actualising constitutional nationalism, furthering the rich Kerala legacy of inclusivism and proposing a whole new way of being in the techno-global givens for India. But led by fear and selfishness, the state seems to be on a slippery slope towards ethical degeneration.

If not identified and stopped now, when these changes at the deep structural level come up on top, there might be a very different state to reckon with!

N. P. Ashley teaches English at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Kerala Congress (M) Faction Decides to Walk Out of UDF

UDF convenor M.M. Hassan also said the Jose faction should quit all the parliamentary positions including Kottayam Lok Sabha seat won with the support of the Congress-led front.

Kottayam: Ahead of next year’s Assembly elections, the ruling LDF in Kerala on Wednesday got a shot in the arm as Kerala Congress (M) faction led by Jose K. Mani decided to sever its decades-old ties with the Congress-led UDF and work with the Left front in the state.

Party leader Jose K. Mani also said he would quit his Rajya Sabha membership, won with the support of the UDF.

Announcing his faction’s political position at a press conference here, Jose expressed hope that the LDF leadership will take a decision on his party’s entry into the ruling front.

Jose, son of veteran Kerala Congress (M) leader late K.M. Mani, hailed the CPI(M)-led front’s efforts to safeguard the secularism in the country.

He also said the LDF government in the state was keen to work towards the welfare of the farming community, which is the core base of his party.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF leadership were quick to welcome Jose faction’s decision to cooperate with their front.

In a statement, Vijayan said the KC(M) has taken a stand that LDF is the politically correct formation, ending its 38- year-old association with the UDF.

Also read: Father Stan Swamy’s Arrest Is ‘Unfortunate’: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The matters related to the party’s LDF entry will be decided at the front’s meeting, he said.

Meanwhile, the UDF leadership flayed the move, saying Jose faction “backstabbed” the Congress-led front, which made him Rajya Sabha member.

UDF convenor M.M. Hassan also said the Jose faction should quit all the parliamentary positions including Kottayam Lok Sabha seat won with the support of the Congress-led front.

Justifying his decision to work with the LDF, Jose said the front has been relentlessly fighting against the growing communal forces in the country.

Attacking the UDF leadership and a rival Kerala Congress (M) faction led by P.J. Joseph, Jose said a section in the front “expelled” his faction from the UDF after a dispute arose over a post in a local body.

The UDF humiliated the MLAs and leaders who stood by his late father K. Mani, who built the UDF 38 years ago, he said.

He also alleged that P.J. Joseph faction engaged in character assassination of the leaders of his faction.

“The UDF leadership supported Joseph’s bid to hijack the Kerala Congress (M). They (UDF leadership) did injustice to us,” Jose alleged.

Jose faction’s issues with the UDF leadership aggravated in June this year after it was “ousted” from the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in connection with the tussle over the Kottayam district panchayat chief post.

The UDF leadership had later rectified it saying the Jose group was not ousted from the front and it was only temporarily barred from the UDF meeting for refusing to honour an agreement made in public with the coalition front over sharing the Kottayam district panchayat president’s post.

“Technically Jose K. Mani group is part of the UDF,” its chairman and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ramesh Chennithala had said in Thiruvananthapuram recently.

Kerala: Congress-Led Opposition Moves No-Confidence Motion Against Vijayan Govt

The United Democratic Front has sought to highlight the gold smuggling case. A faction of Kerala Congress is boycotting the motion.

Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Monday moved a no-confidence motion against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left government in Kerala, raising a slew of allegations including the gold smuggling case.

Congress legislator V.D. Satheeshan moved the motion, saying the Chief Minister’s office was “hijacked” by the gold smuggling gang.

“While the Chief Minister was attending the press conference and saying that everything was fine with the government and was ready to face any probe, his former principal secretary was being questioned by investigating agencies for hours,” Satheeshan said.

He said the ministers and the chief minister were trying to “put all the blame in the gold smuggling matter on the shoulders of suspended senior IAS officer and former IT Secretary M Sivashankar”.

The state government has been facing severe criticism from the opposition Congress and the BJP, who alleged links of the gold smuggling case accused with the Chief Minister’s Office.

Also read: Kerala: Opposition Raises Pitch Against Police Move to Collect Call Records of COVID-19 Patients

The state government had earlier suspended Sivashankar, for his alleged links with Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case involving diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate here.

The Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan has allotted five hours for the discussion on the no-confidence motion, the first against the four-year-old Pinarayi Vijayan government.

Adhering to strict COVID-19 protocols, the Kerala Assembly convened for a day on Monday and passed the Finance Bill 2020-21, which could not be passed after the state budget in February as the House was adjourned sine die on March 13 due to the coronavirus scare.

The opposition has been attacking the government on various issues, including the gold smuggling case and Life Mission housing project for the poor since the past few days.

In the 140-member house, LDF has 91 members and UDF 45.

A no-confidence motion against the government is being brought after 15 years.

In 2005, then CPI(M) MLA Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had moved a motion alleging corruption against the Oommen Chandy government.

However, the UDF, is in a quagmire as the Jose K. Mani faction of its ally Kerala Congress has decided to stay away from the motion owing to a factional feud.

The Kerala Congress party has five members, three belonging to party chairman P J Joseph and two of Jose Mani faction.

P C George, an independent member, has said he will vote for the motion.

BJP has one member, O. Rajagopal.

The by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat which fell vacant after the death of sitting member 83-year-old M.P. Veerendra Kumar, a media baron and veteran socialist, on May 28, is progressing in the Assembly today.

The session was to have been held on July 27, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 situation.

A medical team conducted rapid antigen tests on the members early in the morning and social distancing in seating arrangements have also been ensured.

However, visitors were not allowed for the session.

Each member will have a separate seat for the session, and provided with a sanitiser, mask and a pair of gloves and those entering the assembly complex were subjected to thermal scanning.