CPI(M), LDF never linked with Jamaat-e-Islami: Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday claimed that neither the CPI(M) nor the LDF has ever had any association with the Jamaat-e-Islami, rejecting opposition UDF allegations that the Left party and the Muslim outfit were political partners for decades.

Vijayan said that the Left Front never had the “misfortune” of seeking votes from the Jamaat-e-Islami and never gave the Muslim outfit a “good certificate”.

“But there are some people now who are desperately trying to give a good certificate to the Jamaat-e-Islami,” the chief minister said at a press conference here. He alleged that it is the Jamaat-e-Islami which shapes the political agenda of the Congress and also contributes to UDF poll campaigns.

The remarks came in response to a statement by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, who claimed that the CPI(M) and Jamaat-e-Islami have been linked for decades in a relationship that “cannot be severed easily.”

IUML is a key constituent of the Congress-led UDF opposition. Hitting back, Vijayan said the UDF and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders “will say anything,” and their claims of CPI(M) links with the Muslim outfit are baseless.

Supporting his claim, the CM noted that the Jamaat-e-Islami began voting in elections only from 1987, a time when the Left was not in power in Kerala.

He said that in 1987, the Jamaat-e-Islami had explicitly refused to vote for Marxist or fascist groups, making it clear they voted for the Congress.

In 1992, the Congress Government at the Centre classified the Jamaat-e-Islami as a prohibited group, preventing it from supporting the party in 1996, he added.

“In subsequent years, the Jamaat-e-Islami adopted a candidate-based voting stance and sometimes contested elections themselves. During the VS Achuthanandan Government (2006 2011), the outfit’s youth wing Solidarity, actively worked against the Left Front,” Vijayan said.

“So, we never had the misfortune of chasing their votes. We have also never given them a good certificate. But now, some are desperately trying to do so,” he added.

Later in the day, in response to Vijayan’s claims, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, VD Satheesan, contended that the Jamaat-e-Islami has been supporting the Left Front since 1977, when the Muslim outfit entered politics.

“Since then, till 2019, they have been voting for the CPI(M) and LDF,” he said at a press meet in Malappuram.

Satheesan also showed a purported photograph of Vijayan meeting an Amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami and claimed that many CPI(M) leaders across India were seen in close contact with members of the Welfare Party of India, the Muslim outfit’s political wing.