In Alappuzha, K.C. Venugopal faces a unique contest
K.C. Venugopal fought his
rst election when he was 13, as a high school student, against the CPI(M)-af
liated SFI’s candidate. After numerous electoral battles over the next ve decades — from college and university levels to the Assembly and the Lok Sabha, KCV — as he is called — is facing the most unique electoral contest of his lifetime.
He is in the battle eld to win the lone seat that the CPI(M) had won in Kerala in 2019, Alappuzha, even as he continues to coordinate a national alliance against the BJP that includes his principal rival in the State. He is general secretary (organisation) of the Congress. This battle between the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) for the 20th seat in Kerala says a lot about the challenges before the Opposition alliance. What is between the Left and the Congress could be termed a political situationship.
And the BJP is trying to enter Kerala by portraying the Left and the Congress as opportunistic.
The UDF and the LDF are at daggers drawn in the State, but the week to the polling on April 26 is turning out to be bitter for the frenemies. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — whose candidacy from Wayanad in the State is also a point of acrimony — and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have personally crossed swords. In the eye of the storm as the key Congress strategist, Mr. Venugopal tries to remain unfazed.
“Party workers wanted me to contest, and I cannot say no to the same people who had elected me earlier from Alappuzha,” Mr. Venugopal explained his reason for contesting the Lok Sabha election though he is a Rajya Sabha member.
“I am contesting only because Congress workers insisted,” he said even as he hopped from a convent to a temple, making quick stops at the homes of a few local inuencers and at the market. Campaigning is at a furious pitch, but aides kept extending phones, going down a long list of people that they carried — party colleagues, alliance partners and journalists from across the country. “I am dividing my time between national aairs and local campaign,” he said, expressing relief that he would be free from his own contest by the end of the week. “People like you and support you, but it is unthinkable that any candidate in Kerala can win without intensive campaigning,” he said. “As of now, I dash to Delhi as and when required. After the second phase, my focus will shift to national politics completely.”
As both the UDF and the LDF try to maximise their seats at the cost of the other, campaigning is noholds-barred. Mr. Venugopal’s Rajya Sabha colleague and comrade-in-arms in Delhi, CPI(M)’s John Britas, is scathing in his attack. “Rahul Gandhi and Mr. Venugopal are doing a great disservice to Opposition unity. Instead of coming and taking refuge in Kerala, Rahul should ght the BJP in the epicentre of communalism. As GSO, Mr. Venugopal should have been focusing on bringing together parties at the national level. If he wins in Alappuzha, he will vacate a Rajya Sabha seat which will be taken by the BJP. Rahul and Mr. Venugopal, both contesting in Kerala is against the spirit of unity against the BJP.”
Threat of communalism
However, both Mr. Venugopal and Mr. Britas are united in their view that facing o in Kerala and cooperating elsewhere is par for the course. “Communalism of the BJP is the biggest threat to the country and the Congress is making all sacri ces to build a national coalition against it,” he says, accusing the CPI(M) of helping the entry of the BJP in Kerala. “CPI(M) wants to nish the Congress in Kerala and usher in the BJP.” Mr. Britas levels the same charge against the Congress.
“In a diverse country like India, it is not unusual or scandalous to contest against each other in a region and cooperate at the national level,” argues Mr. Britas. Citing the works of scholar Robin Jerey, Mr. Britas argued that the healthy contest between the LDF and the UDF is at the heart of Kerala’s unique politics. “This contest also ensures that political spectrum of Kerala is kept free of the BJP. So our ght is natural, historical and in alignment with objective of our reasonable collaboration at the national level to defeat the BJP.”
The BJP is seeking to recon gure Kerala’s politics by terming the LDF and the UDF as two sides of the same coin. Among the candidates that are leading the BJP’s charge in the State is Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram. “Both fronts have been pro ting from creating fear among the people of Kerala but that is no longer working. They make accusations against us, of being anti-minority, anti-South India and so on. And then they are ghting against each other in Kerala. Nothing exposes their hypocrisy more than this — foes in Kerala and friends in Delhi. What politics is this?,” he said His key campaign plank is that the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision are the alternative for the State. “They [the two fronts] are united in one thing — which is in creating barriers for development. They lack a vision for the State, and the BJP under Modi has changed direction of development thinking in Kerala,” he said.
Nothing exposes CPI(M) and Congress’s hypocrisy more than this — foes in Kerala and friends in Delhi. What politics is this? RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR BJP candidate in Thiruvananthapuram