Kerala CM Denies Political Alliance Between CPI(M) and RSS During Emergency

Political Tensions in Kerala

On Wednesday, Kerala's Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan firmly rejected any notion of political collaboration between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh during the Emergency period, labeling the right-wing organization as a 'communal force.'

Vijayan accused the right-wing group of targeting Marxist activists. Speaking to the media, he also launched a sharp critique against the Congress leadership, indirectly targeting former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran and opposition leader V.D. Satheesan.

He alleged that the opposition party compromised its secular principles for 'political gain.' With voting for the Nilambur by-election scheduled for Thursday, a renewed debate has emerged regarding a supposed agreement between the CPI(M) and the Janata Sangh (the predecessor of the BJP) during the 1970s.

Congress-UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath suggested that there are significant possibilities for similar alliances to form again, while CPI(M)-LDF candidate M. Swaraj contended that leftists collaborated with the Janata Party, not the Janata Sangh, during that time.

He noted that individuals with differing ideologies had joined the Janata Party. Speaking to reporters, Shoukath claimed that the Communist Party had openly acknowledged in the past that it had allied with the RSS-linked Janata Sangh in at least three or four states in 1967, aiming to oust the then Congress government.