Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma’s “point-blank” video, terming it “communal hate mongering”. However, it was only weeks ago when he himself remained at the center of a controversy for supporting a communal statement in his state.Kerala’s Left has, for decades, projected itself as an ideological outlier in Indian politics — secular, class-driven, and resistant to the communal polarisation that has reshaped much of the country.
Alternating in power with the Congress-led UDF, the CPM-led LDF built its dominance on welfare politics, strong grassroots organisation, and a firm rejection of identity-based mobilisation. Yet, as the state heads toward another high-stakes electoral cycle, that self-image appears increasingly strained.Recent years have seen the Left navigating a far more complex political terrain.Anti-incumbency pressures after two consecutive terms, the steady expansion of the BJP’s footprint, and shifting demographic and electoral calculations have forced recalibration. In response, the LDF’s politics has begun to display sharper edges — marked by strategic outreach to majority sentiment, selective engagement with religious institutions and a willingness to deploy rhetoric it once distanced itself from.It is against this backdrop that a spate of communally charged statements and controversies has moved to the centre of Kerala’s political discourse. What was once confined to accusations of covert alliances and backroom deals has now acquired a distinctly communal framing, raising questions about whether the Left is merely reacting to new political threats — or consciously adopting elements of the very playbook it long criticised.
Jamaat and the ‘Marad riots’ rhetoric
Jamaat-e-Islaami Hind has once again found itself at the centre of a political storm in Kerala — but this time, the sharper focus is on the surge of communal rhetoric that has accompanied the controversy.The socio-Islamic organisation was dragged into a political spat after the CPM and the BJP accused the Congress-led UDF of accepting support from Jamaat. While Jamaat’s political wing, the Welfare Party of India, does not wield significant electoral power, it maintains a presence across social, religious and educational institutions — a footprint that often becomes politically contentious.What has amplified the row, however, is the language used in attacking the alleged association. CPM leader AK Balan made a communally charged statement while criticising the UDF, warning that if the Congress alliance came to power, Jamaat would control the state’s home ministry and that it could lead to a repetition of incidents like the Marad riots of 2002-03. The reference to a past episode of communal violence immediately escalated tensions and sharpened political divides.Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan did not shy away from voicing his support for Balan’s remarks. But the fallout was swift. The CPM’s top leadership later attempted damage control, describing Balan’s remarks as his “personal view” after the party faced criticism for rhetoric that opponents said it echoed “Sangh Parivar” campaign.The Congress seized on that line of attack. “What the CM has said is a kind of communalism that even Sangh Parivar does not express,” AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said, framing the controversy as a troubling departure from the CPM’s professed secular stance.The CPMpushed back, arguing that the debate was being deliberately mischaracterised. Party leader MV Govindan said BJP and Sangh Parivar organisations were trying to present CPM’s criticism of the RSS as an attack on Hindu believers. “Society should understand that criticism against religious fundamentalists is not against religion,” he said, adding that Mahatma Gandhi was a true believer and Nathuram Godse was a religious fanatic.“How can one argue that criticism against a religious fanatic is criticism against religion? CPM will continue to expose this contradiction and work among people to expose and oppose both minority and majority communal extremists,” Govindan said.Despite defending its ideological position, the CPM eventually distanced itself from Balan’s original statement, reiterating that it reflected his “personal view.”Even as the Left sharpened its outreach to the majority community, it simultaneously moved to reinforce ties with influential Muslim bodies, most notably Samastha, signalling a calibrated dual-track political strategy.The nomination of Samastha Mushawara member Ummer Faizi Mukkam—known both for his proximity to the Left and his vocal criticism of the IUML—to the reconstituted Kerala State Waqf Board underscored this approach.Faizi’s inclusion, despite past controversies and objections from pro-IUML quarters within Samastha, was widely read as an attempt to strengthen engagement with sections of the influential Islamic scholars’ body that are either sympathetic to or seeking distance from the IUML.
Global Ayyappa Sangamam
Communist CM Pinarayi Vijayan, far-right UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s message and a Hindu event – Kerala witnessed it all last year.
Pinarayi Vijayan speaks at Ayyappa SangamamThe Left government in Kerala organised Global Ayyappa Sangamam. But why did it stand out? As the name suggests, the event is meant for Ayyappa devotees. Sabarimala temple, which remains controversial, earlier for restricted women’s entry, and now for gold theft, is devoted to the Hindu deity Ayyappa. Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) manages the temple and organises Global Ayyappa Sangamam. However, last year, the CPM government’s move to “assist” TDB in organising the Ayyappa event raised a lot of eyebrows.Why?The Left government was upfront in supporting the SC 2018 verdict allowing the entry of women of all ages in the Sabarimala temple. It even provided police protection to the two women of menstruating age who entered the Ayyappa temple.Protests erupted. Those who opposed the move- Sabarimala Karma Samtihi and BJP among others- took to the streets.BJP even accused the Left government of using the SC verdict to “diminish the prominence of the Sabarimala temple.”BJP and RSS both maintained the stance that while they supported “equal rights for men and women to worship in all temples”, they also affirmed that “unique rituals and beliefs should be protected”.By 2019, the Left government took a U-turn. It felt that aggressively facilitating women’s entry, as the year before, could again trigger unrest and large-scale protests during the pilgrimage season. Moreover, the party leadership concluded that pushing the issue could be politically costly, especially after past backlash and violence.As a result, Left’s move to organise the Ayyappa event is seen as nothing but a “majority appeasement” move, at least by the opposition.In fact, CPM received backing for the Sangamam from influential community organisations, including the Nair Service Society (NSS)—which led the 2018 agitation against the Vijayan government—as well as the SNDP, KPMS and the Malayaraya Mahasabha.The Sabarimala gold theft case is another major corruption charge that the Left has been accused of. The case revolves around the alleged pilferage and misuse of gold from the inner shrine of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple. Moreover, the opposition has alleged that investigative lapses have allowed key accused to walk out on bail — an outcome the Congress says marks another low for the Left government in Kerala.
CPM flaunts Vizhinjam port left, right and centre
Vizhinjam port inauguration (Credit: vizhinjamport.in)Picture this: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor sharing a stage to mark the largest private investment in a communist state, after a slew of opposition by the locals citing environmental concerns.It was 2015. The UDF government in Kerala laid the foundation stone for the Vizhinjam port. ‘Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone’ (APSEZ) signed the agreement with Kerala to build the port and operate it for 60 years.LDF, which was in opposition then, had rejected what it called a ‘sell-out’ PPP framework that favoured the sole bidder, Adani Ports and SEZ.Cut to 2025. LDF government, led by CM Pinarayi Vijayan shared the stage with Gautam Adani to congratulate for the “excellent execution of this mission”.However, this change in stance wasn’t just theatrics. On the ground, too, the shift was unmistakable.Despite sustained protests by fisherfolk and environmental groups, the LDF government stood firmly behind the project.Legal challenges against the port were contested in court, but construction was allowed to proceed.Prolonged protests, including a 140-day agitation in 2022, were met with police action and criminal cases against protest leaders.Claims of coastal erosion, displacement and loss of livelihood were rejected by the government, which backed the developer’s compliance reports and pushed the project forward, even as local opposition continued.The CPM went beyond backing the project and turned its fire on the protesters themselves. Through its mouthpiece Deshabhimani, the party branded the Vizhinjam agitation as violent, motivated by vested interests, and led by forces seeking to destabilise the region.Protesters were accused of attacking police and the media, vandalising equipment, and defying court orders, even as the government refused to pause construction.The paper insisted that most demands had already been conceded, ruled out any rethink of the project, and portrayed protest leaders as irresponsible actors prolonging unrest despite talks and assurances—effectively shifting blame from the project to those resisting it.And that’s how a communist state got its largest ever private investment.
What explains the Left’s right turn?
Anti-incumbencyAnti-incumbency has historically been a decisive factor in Kerala politics, and the numbers from past assembly elections make clear why the Left Front is apprehensive ahead of 2026.Looking at the electoral record, the LDF has experienced sharp swings after being in power: in 2001, it won only 41 seats compared to the UDF’s 100, but bounced back to 102 in 2006 after a term out of office. Similar patterns recur in 2011, when the LDF’s seat count fell to 70 from 102, illustrating the electorate’s tendency to punish prolonged rule regardless of performance. These cycles show that voter fatigue and anti-incumbency are embedded in Kerala’s political DNA, particularly against fronts seeking consecutive terms. The concern is amplified by the LDF’s recent tenure. Having governed since 2016 and securing 94 seats in 2021, the Left is now eyeing for a third consecutive term, a period historically vulnerable to voter backlash. With past trends showing that even strong governments can be significantly reduced after two terms, anti-incumbency presents a major hurdle for the LDF as it seeks to retain power in 2026.Rise of saffron waveAnother major challenge confronting the Left in Kerala is the steady rise of the saffron wave, reflected clearly in the BJP’s expanding influence in the past two decades.The BJP finally opened its account in Kerala in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning its first-ever parliamentary seat in the state. The CPI(M) too was left with just one seat, secured as part of the INDIA bloc, but the result carried little sense of achievement for the Left. For a party that once commanded double-digit representation from Kerala, repeating a single-seat tally for the second consecutive general election highlighted not stability but a prolonged erosion of influence.Alongside the seat win, the NDA raised its vote share to 19.4 per cent from 15.6 per cent in 2019, signalling that the party’s support base had reached a level where it could no longer be dismissed as electorally marginal.The CPM, which had won 12 Lok Sabha seats in 2004, saw its tally fall to four in 2009 and five in 2014, before being reduced to just one seat in 2019—a position it failed to improve upon in the 2024 elections.The contrasting trajectories underline a shift in Kerala’s national-level political landscape, where the Left’s once-dominant presence has steadily weakened even as the BJP has begun converting vote share into representation. The ‘watershed’ local body pollsLocal body polls painted another scary picture for the Left, reinforcing concerns about the growing saffron wave ahead of the 2026 assembly elections.Seen as a semi-final to the state polls, the results delivered a sharp setback to the governing LDF, cutting through its welfare claims and governance pitch and reducing it to its weakest grassroots performance in years.While the Congress-led UDF mounted a sweeping comeback across all tiers of local self-government, the BJP-led NDA expanded beyond its traditional confines, transforming Kerala’s familiar bipolar contest into an increasingly triangular one.The most dramatic rupture came in Thiruvananthapuram, where the BJP-led NDA ended the CPM’s three-decade grip on the city corporation. Emerging as the single-largest front with 50 of 100 wards—just one short of an absolute majority—the NDA pushed the LDF down to 29 seats, while the UDF nearly doubled its tally from 10 wards in 2020 to 19.The result, hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a watershed moment in Kerala politics, underscored how the saffron surge has moved from the periphery to the centre of the state’s political contest, posing a direct challenge to the Left’s long-standing dominance.Demographically, Hindus constitute 54.73% of Kerala’s population. Muslims account for 26.56% and Christians 18.38%, both remaining influential but more regionally concentrated.As the Left confronts shrinking margins and the rise of new competitors, especially in Hindu-majority regions, it has increasingly sought to complement its long-standing minority outreach with calibrated appeals to the majority community.
