Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 In Kerala, the Janata Dal (Secular) serves as a bridge between the CPI(M) and the BJP, veteran Congress leader Cherian Phillip has said.
Phillip pointed out that, at the national level, the JD(S) led by H.D. Deve Gowda is a coalition partner of the BJP.
“Yet, in Kerala, the party continues to remain within the LDF (Left Democratic Front) -- a position retained largely out of political convenience and mutual benefit,” said Phillip.
Philli, now 70, was the closest aide of veteran CWC member A.K. Antony in Kerala till 2001. After falling out with Antony in 2001, he moved closer to the CPI(M) and remained a staunch fellow traveller until 2021, when he rejoined the Congress. He now acts as an informal spokesperson for the party.
In the upcoming December local body elections, JD(S) candidates are contesting as LDF nominees across several districts and levels. In contrast, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- another member of the INDIA bloc -- has been allotted only a nominal number of seats, reflecting what Phillip termed the Left’s “selective approach” to coalition politics.
“Interestingly, while H.D. Kumaraswamy, a JD(S) leader, serves as a Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, K. Krishnankutty, also from the JD(S), continues as a Minister in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s cabinet in Kerala,” Phillip noted.
Within the LDF, every ally has been given ministerial representation -- except the RJD, whose leader, K.P. Mohanan, was excluded. Likewise, when a Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant, it was allotted to Jose K. Mani of the Kerala Congress, bypassing M.V. Shreyams Kumar, the state president of the RJD.
“This complete sidelining of the RJD, an INDIA bloc constituent, while retaining the BJP ally JD(S) in the ruling coalition, reveals a strategic soft corner toward the BJP. It reflects a political balancing act by the Left, which seems reluctant to sever ties with a party that maintains close relations with the ruling dispensation at the Centre,” Phillip said.
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