Kochi: The CPI(M) candidate list for Kerala held a massive surprise in store. Even as the names of the majority of Lok Sabha nominees got leaked beforehand, the candidature of former Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) organising secretary K.S. Hamza, in Ponnani, caught many off-guard.
As Hamza was ousted barely a year ago for mutiny against IUML veteran P.K. Kunhalikutty, his nomination in the regional party’s bastion was considered a coup of sorts.
Ever since the delimitation in 2009, the CPI(M) has been experimenting with its candidates in Ponnani where the IUML has an edge (along with ally Congress), though the Marxists aren’t too far behind. The adjoining Malappuram constituency, on the contrary, is an IUML fortress which the Left seems to have given up on — at least for now.
From 1977 to 2009, Ponnani was represented continuously by the likes of G.M. Banatwala (seven times), Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait and E. Ahmed, before the delimitation gave the Left an opening of sorts.
The 2009 experiment involved snatching the seat away from its ally CPI and backing an Independent jointly supported by Abdul Nazar Madani of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the A.P. Sunni faction (after the initials of its leader Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musaliar) of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama — only to come a cropper.
The next experiment in 2014 involved getting rebel Congressman V. Abdurahman (now a minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet) to switch over to the Left and it nearly worked as the majority was brought down to 25,000 votes. This was repeated in 2019 when another Congress turncoat in P.V. Anwar was fielded, only to get trounced in the wave generated by Rahul Gandhi’s candidature in Wayanad.
Come 2024, it was assumed that Thavanur legislator K.T. Jaleel, who had switched from IUML in 2005, would get the nod. Instead, Hamza’s surprise candidature may well be a sign of many things to follow in Malabar.
Politics of Malabar & IUML
Malabar is essentially the northern part of Kerala which was under the British administration as part of the Madras Presidency before Independence, unlike the princely states of Travancore and Cochin. Six out of fourteen districts stretching from Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur to Kasaragod fall in this region, further divided into nine constituencies.
This region has the maximum concentration of the Muslim (Moplah) community, especially Malappuram and Kozhikode, whose origins are traced to trade and assimilation rather than bloody conquests.
The Hindus make up the majority and the Christian representation is limited to pockets made up of settlers from Central Travancore. The CPI(M) is stronger in the region than the Congress although the Lok Sabha elections do not generally reflect that.
The politics of Malabar, especially Malappuram, since the 90s pits the Left supported by the AP Sunnis — against the IUML backed by the E.K. Sunni faction of the Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulema (referred to mononymously as Samastha) and the Congress.
The E.K. faction accounts for roughly two-thirds of the Sunnis, while the AP faction accounts for the rest. The Salafis/Mujahids (divided into three groups) and the Jamat-e-Islami account for less than five percent of Malabar Muslims.
The CPI(M) has been actively courting the IUML during Vijayan’s second term as a means to destabilise the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). There have been attempts to create disaffection in the IUML ranks for the Congress by portraying it as being less than assertive on issues concerning Muslims.
Parallelly, it has been trying to split the IUML vote bank by perpetuating a rift with the Samastha. The CPI(M)’s third alternative would be to engineer a vertical split in the IUML through Kunhalikutty — who enjoys a great rapport with Vijayan — but it’s no easy task.
Of late, the CPI(M) has been trying to create confusion in the IUML ranks by being shriller on minority issues and caricaturing their identity politics-driven party as being too soft on matters concerning the Muslims.
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IUML & Samastha
Though the IUML and the Samastha are essentially of the same stock, there is a clear division of labour as the latter is broadly concerned with issues concerning faith while the former shapes the politics of the two outfits. The Samastha (including the offshoot A.P. faction) is a body of orthodox Sunnis.
In Kerala, the IUML is essentially a political party led by a Thangal (Syed) — who shuns political office — with a host of Mujahid intelligentsia at the top. The Mujahids are distinct from the more radical Salafis/Wahabbis elsewhere, as they are a product of the Kerala renaissance movement with key figures such as Vakkom Moulavi shaping it.
Veteran journalist N.P. Chekkutty in his book ‘Muslim League in Kerala History’ writes: “The early Mujahid leaders of IUML in Kerala such as Seethi Haji and Chakeeri Ahmed Kutty recognised that they needed to attract the large numbers of Sunnis to make the party winnable, and hence brought in influential Sunni thought leaders such as Abdurahman Bafaqi Thangal based in Koilandy and PMSA Pookoya Thangal based in Panakkad who were both originally aligned to the Congress.”
By virtue of being learned in Islamic jurisprudence, the early Thangals made it to the Mushawara, the 40-member body which drives the Samastha. Since 1948, Thangals have occupied a key post of the Samastha till the death of Sayed Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal in 2022. The next-in-line and incumbent IUML chief Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal wasn’t accorded this privilege for not being an Islamic scholar.
Shajra or ginger group in EK Samastha
Around the same time when Hyder Ali Thangal began to keep unwell, another Thangal (Syed) in Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal got elevated as the Samastha president in 2017, marking a departure from the past. The clash of egos between the relatively-younger IUML chief and the Samastha president have since complicated things.
Of late, a ginger group of three led by Umar Faizy Mukkam, Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu and Sathar Panthalloor along with Musthafa Mundupara — CEO of the E.K. Samastha-mouthpiece ‘Suprabhatham’ daily — have been revolting against the IUML, evidently with the blessings of Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal.
And the CPI(M) sees an opportunity in trying to widen this rift to make political capital out of it. Earlier, the Samastha would only talk to political parties or even the government through the IUML leadership. This worked fine till Hyder Ali Thangal had control over it, but everything changed after Vijayan established a direct line of communication with Jifri Muthukoya Thangal.
The Shajra group, which had some differences with the IUML and who constituted only a small minority in the Samastha leadership ranks, gradually closed ranks with the CPI(M), after securing the tacit backing of Jifri Muthukoya Thangal.
Ahead of the CPI(M)’s naming of the candidates, Abdul Hameed Faizy Ambalakkadavu and Mustafa Mundupara are supposed to have travelled to Thiruvananthapuram to meet the party’s secretary M.V. Govindan, facilitated by Elamaram Kareem, according to a senior Samastha leader aligned to the IUML.
The candidature of K.S. Hamza is supposed to be a direct result of this. However, this understanding is not exactly limited to Ponnani.
Hamza’s chances in Ponnani
Hamza’s candidature is also inspired by the massive upset caused by his namesake T.K. Hamsa in Manjeri in 2004, the only time the IUML was defeated in Malappuram/Manjeri (The constituency was named Malappuram in 1952 and became Manjeri till 2004 although it reacquired the name Malappuram in 2009) since 1952. But K.S. Hamza is not tipped to repeat the giant-killing act of his namesake, who was co-opted to the CPI(M) from the Congress after he fell out with former chief minister K. Karunakaran in the ‘80s.
“Hamza is a small fish compared to his illustrious namesake. Of course, Hamza is flush with money and he is trying to position himself as the candidate of both the E.K. and A.P. faction of Samastha. He might even get the residual votes of the the Social Democratic Party of India, the political arm of the proscribed Popular Front of India, the PDP and the Jamaat-e-Islami, but that may not be enough against IUML’s Abdussamad Samadani,” stated a veteran IUML leader.
The IUML has now switched the seats of its MPs E.T. Mohammed Basheer (Ponnani) and Abdussamad Samadani (Malappuram).
As someone who used to travel around Malabar to give religious sermons from Samastha platforms in the early ‘90s, Samadani is assumed to be a safer bet in Ponnani, and the IUML reckons that it would be difficult for the Shajra group to canvas a section of the Samastha cadres to vote for Hamza.
For Hamza, being forced to contest on the hammer-and-sickle symbol is regarded as a personal setback. With its national party status at stake, the CPI(M) probably had no alternative but a veteran Chandrika daily journalist opined that it would be emotionally difficult for Samastha cadres — who are essentially IUML voters — to press on its opponents’ symbol.
“There is a clear division of roles between the IUML and Samastha and that the cadres can delineate it. If Samastha leaders were to say something on religious matters, they would accept it wholeheartedly, but if they were to issue political decrees to vote against the IUML, it simply wouldn’t work,” M.C. Vatakara, author and biographer of former chief minister C.H. Mohammed Koya, told ThePrint.
However, a Samastha leader aligned to IUML admitted that it would be easier for the Shajra leaders to get a section of cadres to vote against the Congress in Malabar even if the plan could be foiled in Ponnani. And that is where the real shift is set to happen — in adjoining Kozhikode and the rest of Malabar.
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Hamza in Ponnani; Kareem in Kozhikode
Outside the Malabar Palace hotel in the heart of Kozhikode, there is a giant billboard of a smiling Elamaram Kareem, CPI(M) candidate, with the caption: ‘Nammude ponnu Kareemka’ (Our dear Kareem), a clear indicator of Kareem’s Muslim identity, for he has been Kareem Sakhavu (Comrade Kareem) until now.
Speaking on behalf of the Shajra group, Mustafa Mundupara did not rule out a section of Samastha votes switching to the Left in Malabar and, to some extent, in Thrissur, where it wields considerable influence.
But he vehemently denied knowledge of a ‘secret deal’ between the group and the CPI(M).
“The Samastha followers have been hurt. It’s about asserting Samastha’s identity. The wounded Samastha followers could get back at the IUML by voting against it and the Congress, but we would not issue any instruction to that effect.”
On being asked what percentage of the Samastha votes could switch to the Left, Mundupara pegged it at 30 percent.
IUML general secretary P.M.A.Salam rubbished Mundupara’s claim. “They won’t even manage to swing 5 percent votes away from us, and the experiment in Ponnani is doomed to flop miserably,” he said.
However, Congress leader K.P. Noushad Ali is alive to the dangers posed by this development. “We are aware of such unholy deals getting struck in Kozhikode and across Malabar, but we won’t let the CPI(M) prevail. I am myself coordinating the campaign of M.K. Raghavan in Kozhikode,” he stated.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s ‘change of heart’
The Jamaat-e-Islami has been supporting the UDF since the 2019 general election after backing the Left Democratic Front (LDF) until then. In fact, the CPI(M) had been using the Jamaat to vilify the Congress in central Travancore, and this targeted campaign worked to the Left’s advantage in the 2021 assembly polls.
And now, the Jamaat-e-Islami seems to be in two minds on supporting the UDF in toto and indications to this effect were first visible on ‘Out of Focus’, an editorial show on its news channel, MediaOne.
Jamaat leader Samad Kunnakkavu admitted as much to ThePrint. “The situation is not comparable to 2019. This time, we are supporting the INDIA bloc and not the Congress alone. So, we are likely to support specific candidates from both the UDF and the LDF, pending announcement by Kerala Amir P. Mujeeb Rahman.
On being asked how the Jamaat could support the Left after all the abuse of the past five years, he said: “Well, if we are to back the LDF, we know how to extract statements from them acknowledging us.”
True to Samad Kunnakkavu’s prediction, the Jamaat’s Iftar party in Kozhikode on 16 March had the top CPI(M) leaders in attendance, as well as those from the IUML. Congress’s Noushad Ali, who was also present there, exuded confidence that he could “manage the situation with Jamaat” for the UDF.
Although the Jamaat-e-Islami may not be much of a factor in the vote calculations beyond pockets in Kozhikode and Vadakara, its nuisance value is beyond doubt. The CPI(M) has quickly latched on to the points raised by MediaOne for its propaganda.
A roll of the dice
For now, it is difficult to predict whether the Shajra group’s plans to swing Samastha votes in Malabar would help the CPI(M) win seats. However, this is likely to make the close contests in Kozhikode, Vadakara, Kannur and Kasaragod tighter than it looks.
In Kasaragod, for instance, Congress’s Rajmohan Unnithan might seemingly be on a strong wicket, but a Left leader pointed out that Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal is the Qadi of a number of ‘Mahals’ (mosque) in the district, suggesting that he would swing votes to the Left.
IUML’s Salam dismissed the threat, saying that he didn’t expect Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal to do that. However, many others ThePrint spoke to disagreed. Salam and Thangal go back a long way to their student days and apparently share a good personal equation between them.
Shafi Parambil’s identity
Shafi Parambil, the Congress candidate in Vadakara, has seemingly caught the Jamaat’s ire for not attending its Iftar after MediaOne discounted his Muslim identity “for not speaking up on issues concerning the community”.
And neither has Parambil made the mandatory visit to Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal even as K.K. Shailaja of the CPI(M) had already sought an appointment, according to Mustafa Mundupara.
For the Jamaat-e-Islami and Samastha, the question of identity has them worked up. For instance, Jifri Muthukkoya Thangal is supposed to have nominated a Muslim Congress leader as a contestant from Wayanad although Rahul Gandhi’s re-election bid sabotaged it.
And when a Muslim face was chosen for Vadakara, Shafi Parambil was seen as the only winnable leader in the Congress ranks, notwithstanding the reservations of the Samastha and the Jamaat.
“Shafi seems to be almost apologetic of his identity and is shy of wearing his identity on his sleeve,” a Jamaat leader stated.
A.A. Shukoor, a former Congress legislator from Alappuzha, disagreed: “In the Congress, we are trained to be Congressmen first. Identity only comes later. We can’t be seen playing identity politics like IUML or the Kerala Congress factions.”
In the final analysis, whatever the outcome of the poll in Malabar, the CPI(M) is likely to make incremental gains through Hamza’s candidature. The disarray in the Samastha ranks and its tussle with IUML, the realignment of other organisations and related developments augur well for the Left’s long-term goals in Kerala.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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