Congress continues to enjoy confidence of Muslim community in Kerala

KOZHIKODE: Congress party continues to be the strong choice of the Muslim community in Kerala in the Lok Sabha polls despite frantic efforts from the CPM this time to convince the community otherwise. LDF’s star campaigner Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had continuously tried to persuade Muslims to leave the Congress fold as the party has no sincerity in opposing the Sangh Parivar. In almost all his election speeches Pinarayi attacked the Congress for keeping silent on crucial issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Palestine.

Putting the Congress on the defensive, CPM had organised solidarity meetings on these issues and invited the IUML for these programmes. But the election results prove these campaigns have not dented Congress’ credibility and the trust reposed by the Muslim community in the party.

Congress countered the campaign pointing out that the Pinarayi government was in no way different from the Modi government at the Centre. The reluctance of the LDF government to withdraw the cases registered during the anti-CAA protest was a good campaign point for Congress. The performance of the police in Kerala, especially in handling cases related to Muslims, also distanced the community from the CPM.

CPM was pinning hopes on the rivalry between the IUML and Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama. Former IUML state secretary K S Hamsa was roped in for Ponnani with the expectation that the move would fetch some Samastha votes to CPM kitty. But the strategy did not work as the party expected as is evident from the stunning performance of IUML candidates in Malappuram and Ponnani. The support extended by parties like the SDPI and the Welfare Party to the UDF coupled with the solid support extended by IUML cadres made it difficult for the CPM to make any inroads into the community.

AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal has dashed off to New Delhi to finalise on the future strategy of INDIA bloc

It was a sweet double victory for CWC leader Ramesh Chennithala. He saw the UDF garnering 18 Lok Sabha seats. In his role as AICC general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra, the Congress there romped home with 14 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats.

Indira Bhavan saw a huge flex board being erected by party workers there which saw Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal, K Sudhakaran and V D Satheesan’s pictures. A notable omission was that of UDF convener M M Hassan though