Lone LDF winner in Kerala: ‘Congress is reaping benefits of Left’s campaign against BJP’

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) suffered a rout in Kerala, winning only one seat, the Alathur SC-reserved constituency. Its candidate K Radhakrishnan defeated sitting Congress MP Ramya Haridas by 20,111 votes.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Radhakrishnan claimed the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) reaped the benefits of the Left’s campaign on the ground. “In the last two Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the campaigning done by the Left has helped the UDF. We need to study why it happened. When we organised democratic protests to mobilise people against the BJP and the central government, the Congress or the UDF were inactive and nowhere to be seen. However, they have benefited from our efforts,” Radhakrishnan, 60, said.

The Kerala Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes, Devaswoms, and Parliamentary Affairs, Radhakrishan also claimed that the Congress’s upper hand over the Left parties in the state in Lok Sabha elections was “due to the political scenario in the country”.

“The Congress is the leading party in the INDIA bloc, which also includes the Left. Even those who otherwise vote for the LDF might be voting for the UDF in the Lok Sabha elections. All they want is to oust the BJP and it does not matter for them whether they are voting for the LDF or the UDF,” said Radhakrishnan.

He asserted that though the CPI(M) suffered a setback, its “stand on rooting for secular values was vindicated by the weaker mandate the BJP-led NDA got at the Centre for a possible third term”.

However, he acknowledged, the party could have campaigned better ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

In 2019 too, the LDF had managed to get just one seat. K M Arif, its lone winner then, lost to Congress