CPM to Confront Rahul Gandhi Over "Dirty" Kerala Campaign in I.N.D.I.A. Bloc Meeting

Signalling growing resentment against the Congress ahead of the crucial June 8 INDIA bloc summit, one of its 30-plus constituents, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, has raised uncomfortable questions for the Congress over Rahul Gandhi’s vitriolic anti-Left remarks during the recent Kerala Assembly elections. This comes after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which has 22 members in the Lok Sabha, announced that it would boycott the meeting, citing what it described as the Congress’s betrayal following the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

In a letter to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPM General Secretary MA Baby said, “I have been informed by KC Venugopal about the meeting of the INDIA bloc parties to be held on June 8, 2026. In this connection, I would like to cite a recent political development during the Assembly elections. There was a systematic campaign by the Congress leadership during the Kerala Assembly elections that the CPM and the BJP had struck a deal.” Kharge serves as the head of the INDIA bloc.

The sharply worded letter added, “Further, it was alleged that the CPM’s senior leader, Member of the Polit Bureau and then Chief Minister, Comrade Pinarayi Vijayan, had also struck a deal with (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi. The question was posed: ‘Otherwise, why is it that he has not been interrogated or arrested by the Enforcement Directorate’?”

“These were not stray remarks made in the heat of an election campaign, but the centrepiece of your political campaign. Every national leader — Shri Rahul Gandhi, Shrimati Priyanka Gandhi and yourself — made such allegations repeatedly,” the letter said.

He sought to remind Kharge that the INDIA bloc was constituted as a broad platform to politically fight the BJP. “Parties of diverse ideologies and programmes, who otherwise are electoral rivals in many states, came together only for this sole purpose. Right from the June 2023 Patna meeting that launched the INDIA bloc, the CPM has worked sincerely to see such a united platform emerge,” the letter noted, adding, “Strangely, now, the CPM is accused of having a deal with the BJP. This is a canard which we cannot take lightly. This strikes at the very basis of the unity forged against the BJP.”

In his letter, Baby added, “You should know that hundreds of our cadres were martyred in Kerala in the fight against the RSS-BJP. We would also like to bring to your notice that during the last ten years of LDF rule in Kerala, there were no communal riots of any sort, unlike in many other states, which vouches for our commitment to secularism and safeguarding communal harmony.”

In the fiercely fought Kerala elections, the CPM-led Left Democratic Front government was voted out after 10 years in power.

Many of the INDIA bloc’s constituents are unhappy with the way Congress leaders have conducted themselves, often placing their political priorities above those of their allies. The first to exit the alliance of sorts was former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the JD(U) in January 2024, when he joined hands with the BJP in a realignment of forces.

Several other regional parties, including the Samajwadi Party, have harboured deep resentment towards the Congress over what they see as its tendency towards one-upmanship.

The CPM, which played a pivotal role in helping form the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government by offering outside support to the Congress, has long resented hostile campaigns by national Congress leaders in its strongholds. From being in power in three states over the past two decades, the CPM was confined to Kerala until recently, when it lost its last bastion as well.

For all practical purposes, Kerala has increasingly become central to the Congress’s national operations, with Priyanka Gandhi representing the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat that was earlier held by Rahul Gandhi, even as the party’s traditional strongholds in Uttar Pradesh have come to look increasingly unwinnable.