November 9,1998
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KERALA Greening of the Reds In a marked change from its earlier stand not to align with 'communal' parties, the ruling CPI(M) shows a new warmth towards IUML. By M G Radhakrishnan
For the first time in perhaps over three decades the two parties have stopped treating each other as untouchables. Attempts to build bridges began soon after the 1996 assembly elections when the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) -- in which the IUML is the second largest constituent -- was routed. Though efforts for a formal tie-up with the LDF in the past have proved futile because of the CPI (M)'s professed stand since 1987 to have no truck with any "communal" party, the new fraternity is patently visible. In several panchayats, municipalities and local bodies, especially in IUML strongholds, the party has entered into an open alliance with the LDF against the Congress. IUML's absence in most anti-government agitations organised by the UDF in the past 28 months has also been conspicuous. The Marxists' hesitation to openly accept the IUML has made it imperative for the IUML to seek an indirect entry into the LDF by allying with the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (RLM), led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Laloo Prasad Yadav who are currently attempting the formation of a Third Front that includes Left parties. Mulayam was a special guest at IUML's rally in Kozhikode last month. He invited his hosts to join the RLM. Later representatives of both the parties met in Delhi to work out the modalities. But IUML's plans received a setback when CPI(M) General Secretary H.K. Surjeet reiterated his party's commitment not to tie up with it. This has embarrassed the IUML which is now trying hard to save face. "IUML has never been in the queue to join any Third Front which hasn't even taken shape," says E. Ahamed, MP and IUML general secretary. This political merry-go-round has pleased the Congress which was concerned about its long-time ally's pro-LDF slant. "Now that the CPI (M) has made its stand clear, the League may stop going after the Third Front and remain with us," says Congress leader and former chief minister K. Karunakaran, the main architect of the Congress-IUML ties formalised in the '60s. The ties, which had survived the anti-Congress Muslim backlash in the post Babri Masjid period, has over the past two and half years deteriorated. But there are differences within the IUML on parting ways with its long-time ally. A section led by Ahamed and Koya's son M.K. Muneer are opposed to the Left while equally influential partymen like P.K. Kunhalikutty, former industries minister and party state secretary, are in favour. The former group believes that it is the desperate need of some IUML ministers in the previous UDF government to block corruption probes against them that has prompted them to tilt towards the Left. A belief that is not misplaced as a number of IUML ministers have been left out of such probes. For instance, in the Kozhikode sex racket case, which rocked the state last year, the Government unhesitatingly took action against two Leftist former mayors but not against Kunhalikutty, alleged to be involved in the scandal. "The LDF Government has deliberately let off Kunhalikutty as it wants to keep the IUML pleased," says women's activist K. Ajitha. The CPI(M) is playing a double game. Wary of an open tie-up with the IUML, it seems more keen on a clandestine liaison. It has refrained from calling the IUML "communal". Newly elected party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan says, "We do not say we will never ally with IUML. Let them part ways with the UDF. We will see then." This is seen by many as a trap. But the pro-Left camp in the IUML is still hopeful. "Our ties with the Congress in the state will continue for the moment but nationally we will continue to strive for a broad secular alliance with the Congress and the CPI(M) as major parties to check the BJP-sponsored Hindu fundamentalism," says Kunhalikutty. The IUML's desperation stems partly from the fact that in the past 40 years it has rarely remained out of power. Since the formation of state in 1956, it has been out of power for only 12 years. At the moment, its leaders see no chances of a return to power, not with the UDF riven by factionalism and the ineffective leadership in the Congress. This has led not just the IUML but even other minority parties to look for new friends. One of the Christian-dominated Kerala Congress groups is looking at the BJP as a possible ally. If the fluctuating alliances indicate anything, it is that Kerala's politicians are out to prove that politics is the art of the possible. |
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It is the vathakka
(watermelon) League, green on the outside and red inside." This was the biting
epithet that the late Kerala chief minister C.H. Muhammed Koya of the Indian Union Muslim
League (IUML) gave to the All India Muslim League when it broke away from the IUML and
allied with the CPI(M) during the '70s. Had Koya been alive today, he would have
grudgingly acknowledged that the epithet now suited his own party. For, the IUML, the
largest remnant of the century-old Muslim League and largely confined to the state's
northern districts, is desperately trying to cosy up to its long-term sworn enemy, the
ruling CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). 
