Muslim League warns Cong against truck with BJP

Muslim League warns Cong against truck with BJP
P VENUGOPAL

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, APRIL 6: While the proposed `grand alliance' in West Bengal with the Congress and the BJP sharing the same platform has enlivened the political debate in the country, trouble is brewing for the Congress in the state with its major partner, the Muslim League, warning the former against any such `misadventure' in Kerala and the CPM exploiting the political realignment in Bengal to expose the `secular pretensions' of the Congress.

By all indications, unity of anti-Left Opposition may remain a far cry in the state in the foreseeable future, thanks to the fragile nature of the political front led by the Congress and the splendid isolation of the BJP.

Unlike in West Bengal, the IUML is one of the main pillars of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in the state.

And the most vehement opposition to any alliance, direct or indirect, involving the BJP is sure to come from the Muslim League itself, as revealed by its Parliamentary party Leader P K Kunhjalikutty in a chat with NIE on Wednesday.

Kunhjalikutty said the League would resist any move by the Congress to have any truck with the BJP in Kerala. ``The Bengal alliance is not going to help the Congress in any way. As far as the League is concerned, the communal BJP is its enemy number one. As such, there is no question of our aligning with the BJP to fight the CPM in Kerala or elsewhere. Ideology is more important to us than alliances. The need of the hour is a grand alliance of secular parties both at the state and national-level,'' he said.

The Congress leaders were at a loss for words to explain the Bengal developments. ``There is no need for a grand alliance in Kerala. The UDF itself is strong enough to take on the CPM in the coming elections. However, if any LDF constituent comes to us, we would welcome it (to the UDF fold)", said KPCC vice-president K Muraleedharan.

KPCC general secretary M M Hassan said it was too early to pass judgement on the proposed grand alliance in Bengal. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has made it clear that her party would have no covert or overt understanding with the BJP. The chances of Mamta Banerjee breaking away from the NDA also cannot be ruled out.

Hassan said in Kerala, Congress is fighting both the CPM and the BJP with equal vehemence.

While a Raj Bhavan march is being organised by the party on April 7 against the anti-poor policies of the BJP Government at the Centre, a march to the Kozhikode Collectorate is planned on April 12 against the `misrule' of the Nayanar Government.

Hassan said he would not be surprised if a grand alliance of the CPM and the BJP comes into being in Kerala.

Such an alliance already exists in a number of civic bodies including the Kasargod and Kottayam municipalities. Even in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, there is a secret understanding between the CPM and the BJP to keep the former in power, he said.

Asked about the reported unofficial alliances between the Congress and CPM in some civic bodies, Hassan said they were not alliances but adjustments which would be reconsidered by the party.

While the BJP leaders in the state welcomed the proposed grand alliance in Bengal, they shied away from mooting a similar open understanding with the Congress to fight the CPM in Kerala.

BJP general secretary P P Mukundan has called for a grand alliance involving the BJP and democratic parties in the UDF and LDF, but has kept mum on any possible tie-up with the Congress.

The political realignment in Bengal has given a powerful handle to the CPM to expose the Congress's political opportunism. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has warned that the Congress is treading a self-destructive course by aligning with the BJP in Bengal. ``None with self-respect or commitment to secular and democratic values would now remain in the Congress. It's time true Congressmen severed the party's links with communal forces and joined the secular and democratic mainstream,'' Vijayan said.