After Kerala debacle, CPI(M) turns against IUML, flags its ‘communal face’ amid Ezhava backlash

Stung by its rout in the recent Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the ruling CPI(M) has started going after the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) – a constituent of the Congress-led UDF – alleging that the Congress’s ally has turned into the face of right-wing Muslim outfits in the state.

In a review of its performance in the Lok Sabha polls last week, the CPI(M) claimed that the SDPI, the political wing of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), and the Jamaat-e-Islami had worked in tandem with the Congress and the IUML to ensure the UDF’s triumph.

The CPI(M), which leads the LDF coalition, had made its fierce stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) its main plank in the Lok Sabha polls, which was also aimed at wooing the Muslim voters. It however did not yield electoral dividends for the party, which managed to win just one seat as against the UDF’s 18 seats out of the state’s 20 with the remaining one (Thrissur seat) going to the BJP to give the party its first-ever Lok Sabha win.

Intensifying the ruling camp’s attack on the IUML, CPI(M) Politburo member A Vijayaraghavan said in Malappuram Monday that “League is being criticised for having joined hands with communal forces. The approach of the IUML towards the CPI(M) is the same as that of SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami. IUML has the voice of extreme communal outfits.”

Even Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has now also come down on the IUML for “its communal stand”. “Congress and IUML had joined hands with communal forces for votes. During the elections, IUML had turned into the face of SDPI,’’ he charged.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, the CPI(M) had been trying to warm up to the IUML, hailing the party for its “secular stand” and indicating that “Left doors would be