Kerala: CPI-M caught in crossfire after Alapuzzha legislator shares stage with Jamaat-e-Islami

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Alappuzha, Jan 20 (IANS) The Communist Party of India (Marxist), on Tuesday, found itself on the defensive after news surfaced that Alappuzha MLA Daleema Jojo shared a stage at a programme organised by the Jamaat-e-Islami–controlled Kaniv Charitable Organisation, opening up a fresh political flashpoint ahead of a crucial election cycle in Kerala.

MLA Jojo attended the event at Vaduthala to inaugurate an ambulance delivery programme, which was inaugurated by Jamaat-e-Islami Kerala Ameer Mujeeb Rahman.

The MLA later said her presence should not be politicised, stressing that it was a charity event and that she neither endorsed nor aligned with the organisation’s ideology.

She left the venue soon after inaugurating the ambulance and singing a song.

However, the optics have proved politically costly for the ruling CPI-M-led Kerala government, which has for months mounted a sustained attack on the Congress, accusing it of “soft-pedalling” towards Jamaat-e-Islami and other communal organisations.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior CPI-M leaders have repeatedly alleged that the Congress-led UDF has been tacitly accommodating Islamist groups for electoral gains, projecting the LDF as the sole defender of secular, democratic values.

Opposition leaders has always said that the CPI-M has a long history of political engagement and tactical understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliates, particularly during earlier phases of Kerala’s political churn.

Within the CPI-M, the incident has triggered discomfort.

Party sources indicated that while Jojo’s explanation may be accepted at a personal level, the broader political messaging has been muddied at a time when the CPI-M is attempting to sharpen its ideological contrast with the Congress.

The CPI-M leadership is keen to avoid the perception of double standards, especially as it seeks to consolidate minority and secular voters without conceding ground to rival political narratives.

The episode underscores the tightrope Kerala’s political parties walk in balancing electoral pragmatism with ideological positioning.

With both the CPI-M and Congress accusing each other of selective secularism, the Jamaat-e-Islami question has once again emerged as a fault line in the state’s fiercely competitive political landscape.

–IANS

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Devotees perform Ganga aarti in Prayagraj for PM Modi’s long life on eve of his 75th birthday

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