“The Left in Kerala is right-extreme, and Congress is the real Left,” VD Satheesan, Kerala’s Leader of Opposition (LoP) is known to reiterate this point ad nauseam.
For sure, the Congress in Kerala has always been slightly left-of-centre compared to its national counterpart, given that it had to fight for space with the Communists. The Left and Congress have taken turns to rule Kerala in the last six decades, and taking the moral high ground involved framing debates over welfare and development.
Even then, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) came to take credit for all the big-ticket development projects undertaken in the state over the years, whereas the Marxists were deemed far too inward-looking – post the spate of social reforms initiated by the EMS Namboodiripad-led first Communist government in 1957. The Left’s legacy of strikes and the terror unleashed by its trade unions brought the party more bad name over the years.
Nevertheless, in the wake of the controversy generated over Shashi Tharoor’s praise for the Left government, it would be opportune to explore Satheesan’s theory of Congress being the bona fide Left party in Kerala today.
It is a fact that the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) under Pinarayi Vijayan has been trying to course-correct the party’s approach to private capital and investments with a vengeance. Meanwhile, the Congress seems to be mirroring the Left of the past lately, at least on some counts – taking impulsively negative positions on issues as the CPI-M would do in the past.
In fact, the Congress seems to have become the confused Left in Kerala.
Confused Left
In the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Latin Christian fisherfolk from Vizhinjam protested, demanding a halt to construction until a study on sea erosion was conducted. This stance was backed by the UDF and publicly voiced by Satheesan.
The Left government took on the protest by ganging up with the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), realising the negative consequences such a stoppage would have.
Only Shashi Tharoor from the Congress took a position that the halting of operations at that stage would be detrimental to the state’s larger interests – jeopardising his own re-election. It may be remembered that when Congress veteran KV Thomas shifted allegiance to the Left after being sidelined, he stated that he was shifting in the interest of the state’s development.
Although the statement of Prof Thomas was taken with a pinch of salt, he clearly spelled out his backing of the Silverline semi-high speed rail project envisaged by the neo-liberal Left. The UDF had qualified its opposition to Silverline on account of flooding and environmental concerns. Nevertheless, a statement like “Who is in such a tearing hurry” by Uma Thomas on the question of Silverline, ahead of the Thrikkakkara by-election, was used effectively by the Left for propaganda.
The fact is that everybody is in a tearing hurry when it takes a whole day to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod by railways (and more, by road) and such a loose statement did a lot of damage to the UDF’s reputation of standing for development. Even if the Congress may extend support to Silverline’s revised form as proposed by ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan, sections of the ‘apolitical’ middle-class in Kerala hold the party guilty of uprooting the project, by uprooting the yellow stones laid for the project.
That a high-speed rail project is warranted for Kerala is demonstrated by the Vande Bharat trains running at full capacity in the state since its launch.
Also read: Where does Shashi Tharoor fit in Kerala Congress? His timing is always off
Growing middle-class
The CPI-M’s watering down of longstanding dogmatic positions is rooted in the understanding that the working class that voted it to power is a shrinking commodity in Kerala. The growing middle class in the post-liberalisation era does not identify with the Left’s conspiracy theories and is impatient for development at any cost. In fact, they hold the CPI-M accountable for thwarting UDF’s development initiatives.
There is a possibility that the CPI-M in Kerala would have welcomed free markets sooner had Namboodiripad not prevailed over the alternate vision of MV Raghavan, leading to the Kannur strongman’s expulsion in 1986. Post that phase, it was the enduring rivalry between the former Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan factions at the turn of the millennium that prevented the Left from embracing reforms sooner.
Of course, the party would have needed a leader in the Stalinist mould like a Raghavan or his protégé Vijayan to steer the party according to that vision, for it to work out.
If a section of the burgeoning middle class in Kerala who voted for the Congress in the past takes a shine to the CPI-M, it might spell doom for the UDF – with the BJP waiting in the wings. The ‘apolitical’ segment is also growing steadily, and Congress would do well to introspect whether it is in a position to harness that bloc.
VD Satheesan seems to be inspired by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, which positioned itself leftwards of the Left to come to power. However, such a strategy may not work in Kerala, and may, in fact, backfire on Congress.
Marxist rejects and Betaals
One reason for the Congress adopting a blanket negative attitude to development projects mooted by the Left is that many of those who were part of the Left ecosystem in the past have joined the UDF ranks today. For instance, the Left intelligentsia that once backed the VS Achuthanandan faction is broadly supporting the UDF now. So is the Jamaat-e-Islami, riding piggyback on the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), much like Betaal latching on to Vikramaditya, as the story goes.
As usual, Congress depends on various caste and community organisations to create a mahaul (mood), rather than working hard at engineering it. The trouble with the Left ecosystem and the Jamaat-e-Islami – which adopts a Left posture in Kerala to serve its goals – getting space in the UDF is that they try to influence policy-making and set the agendas of the front.
UDF secretary CP John’s statement that the Jamaat-e-Islami’s political outfit, the Welfare Party, be accorded space in the front went to show the influence exerted by the religious outfit on key stakeholders. For a lone ranger like CP John, who once narrowly lost the Students Federation of India (SFI) national president’s position to Sitaram Yechury in 1984, his existence in the UDF rests on securing a winnable seat, and it is no surprise that he has fallen into the trap set by the Jamaat.
Else John, a Syrian Marthomite from Kunnamkulam and married to a Catholic from Bharananganam, would understand the damage UDF would face in the Christian belt of Central Travancore by forging an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. Even VD Satheesan – who fashions himself as a Nehruvian – is quite pally with the Jamaat folks, although he takes extra care to attend Jamaat events away from the media glare.
Winning election
There are others like former Congress minister VM Sudheeran, who frequently writes Op-Eds calling for the party to adopt Indira Gandhi’s socialist line, as if he were frozen in time.
Congress would do well to not entertain Sudheeran’s vision, and recall his tug-of-war with Oommen Chandy as PCC chief, killing that government’s prospects at re-election. Sudheeran’s anti-liquor drive that pushed Chandy to adopt an alcohol ban is arguably one of the reasons behind the widespread availability of drugs in Kerala today.
Rahul Gandhi’s influence on the Kerala Congress and his Left predilections might be the alibi that the UDF has to offer against the charge that the party is turning leftwards in the state, but it wouldn’t be borne out by facts. There is no compulsion on the state unit to embrace Gandhi’s vision at all.
Going into the election next year, Congress needs to come up with a development narrative that can attract the middle class. A Congress chief ministerial aspirant recently asked me, “Even if the UDF were to form the government, where is the fiscal space to accomplish anything?” Before that, however, winning itself would be in jeopardy if the middle class is not sold on Congress’ dreams of development.
Anand Kochukudy is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweets @AnandKochukudy. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)