A new book on the life and times of K G Marar, former Kerala president of the Jana Sangh and the BJP, replete with interesting and hitherto unsaid political manipulations in the State’s history is sure to create a new political narrative.
Authored by K Kunhikkannan, veteran journalist and a close associate of Marar for decades, the book has made startling disclosures about how the Congress and the CPI(M) had forged alliance with the Hindutwa parties in the past to capture power.
The author says Marar, a “hardcore pracharak” of the RSS who was deputed by the latter to work in the Jan Sangh and its successor the BJP, never considered the Congress or Communists or other political parties as enemies. “For him they were all rivals and not class enemies. Throughout his life he held them all as rivals who were not untouchables,” writes Kunhikannan.
The author attributes the victories made by the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF in the 1980, 1982, 1987 and 1991 elections to the strategic agreements these fronts had formed with the JS/BJP. “The CPI(M) and the Congress had sought the help of Jan Sangh and its successor BJP to win elections. The 1977 elections saw the CPI(M) leaders including E M S Namboodirippadu campaigning for K G Marar and O Rajagopal. In 1980, the CPI(M) had cobbled an alliance with political outfits sponsored by the Church and Islamists. The Congress had entered into an agreement with the Jan Sangh in this election. Senior Congress leader P R Kurup and Muslim League leader E Ahmed were the prominent UDF leaders who had campaigned for Marar. Though the JS transferred its vote share to the UDF, the front failed to reciprocate,” writes Kunhikannan who had unsuccessfully contested two assembly elections under the Jan Sangh/BJP flags.
The 1991 election to the assembly as well as Lok Sabha saw the Congress-led UDF making tacit alliance with the Hindu fundamentalist BJP. The latter fielded Dr K Madhavankutty, a widely respected physician from Beypore assembly constituency while senior advocate Rathna Singh was fielded by the BJP from Vatakara Lok Sabha constituency. This understanding was termed as Co-Bi-Lee alliance in local parlance.
In addition to this, Marar (Manjeswar in Kasaragod ) K Raman Pillai (Thiruvananthapuram East) and O Rajagopal (Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha) were fielded as BJP candidates on the assurance from Congress leader K Karunakaran that his party would vote for the BJP in these constituencies. B Vijayakumar, an acolyte of Karunakaran, was fielded from Trivandrum East on the condition that he would withdraw from the race two days before the polling to facilitate the BJP’s candidate. But Vijayakumar switched over to the Antony camp midway through and won the poll. “Though the BJP remained true to the pre-poll agreement and voted for the Congress candidates, the latter violated the agreement and thus the Hindutwa party could not make the breakthrough it was hoping for,” writes Kunhikannan who played a role in the deal formation.
He further states that the CPI(M) won the 1987 and 1996 assembly election by playing the Hindu card. “The CPI(M) swept the first ever district council election in 1991 by winning 13 out of the 14 districts on the plank of Saddam Hussain. Namboodirippadu declared that the CPI(M) supported Saddam Hussain and Muslims in Iraq’s war against USA and this led to the consolidation of the Muslim votes. But the minority community saw through the danger of supporting the Marxists and regrouped under the Congress which led to the UDF victory in the assembly polls”, writes Kunjikannan about the 1991 experience.
