When political parties that are partners in one state or several states compete against one another in other states, electoral politics become more complex. When the contests take place concurrently and involve direct participation from the party’s top leaders, it becomes more complicated.
People who follow politics often grow jaded about it and write it off as absurd. However, beneath the comedy is a serious political issue involving existential concerns for the parties concerned. Kerala’s conflicting political landscape between the CPI(M)-led government Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is a reflection of the nation’s inconsistent opposition politics.
Source: Deccan Herald
While they both belong to the I.N.D.I.A. alliance and are allies in several states, including West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, the CPI(M) and the Congress are rivals in Kerala. However, the two parties’ animosity and bitterness in Kerala are so strong that it would be hard to see them as allies anywhere else.
This is mostly due to the fact that Kerala is crucial to both sides. It is the only state in which the CPI(M) has any chance of winning power. The state is where the Congress aspires to rule, and it is also where it received the most number of Members of Parliament in 2019. Therefore, each party can only benefit from the weakness of the other. The tensions have increased as a result of Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad candidacy. He is called out as a leader who has abandoned the fight against the BJP while running against Annie Raja, a candidate for the CPI. Both parties accuse one another of being in a covert alliance with the BJP and criticise one other to ridiculous extremes.
Source: India Today
The Congress did not object to the Narendra Modi government’s use of central investigative agencies against opposition figures, despite criticism of the government for doing so (M). The Congress is criticised by the CPI(M) for implementing “soft Hindutva” policies and for not having the strength to oppose the BJP. On its part, the BJP claims that the two are working together to obstruct it.
Kerala’s condition is dire but not unprecedented. The opposition scenario in many states and at the federal level is riddled with paradoxes, but this is because it accurately captures the federal character of politics and society. It might be challenging to identify a unifying topic or area of interest among the diverse political cultures found throughout the nation’s regions. However, via these kinds of circumstances, politics develops, and people’s political sensibilities also change, judging them.
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