CPI(M) Leader M Swaraj Warns of “Effortless” Congress–BJP Mergers in Kerala Panchayats

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) State Secretariat member M Swaraj has alleged that the Congress and the BJP continue to have structures that can “easily merge,” citing recent political developments in Mattathur and Kumarakom as evidence. In a Facebook post, Swaraj said these incidents prove that even if the BJP does not win elections directly, it is sufficient for the Congress to win for the BJP to come to power.

Referring to events in Mattathur panchayat in Thrissur and Kumarakom in Kottayam, Swaraj said Congress leaders either defected en masse to the BJP or openly aligned with it to prevent the Left from coming to power. He argued that this political tendency has deep historical roots, pointing out that there was a time when dual membership in the Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha—or even the RSS—was permitted.

Swaraj noted that similar developments had earlier taken place in Arunachal Pradesh, where the entire Congress legislature party, led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu, merged with the BJP. Khandu later became the BJP Chief Minister of the state.

The CPI(M) leader also referred to recent remarks by senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and advising the Congress to learn organisational lessons from the RSS. Swaraj said such developments only reinforce the perception that seamless mergers between the Congress and BJP are not surprising.

“From Mattathur to Kumarakom, it is being proved that the BJP need not win elections itself—Congress victories alone are enough to ensure BJP rule,” Swaraj concluded.

Full Translation of M. Swaraj’s Facebook Post

Effortless Merger…

There was a time when one could simultaneously hold membership and work in both the Hindu Mahasabha and the Congress.

At one point, the Congress even took a decision that there was no obstacle to holding membership and working simultaneously in the RSS and the Congress.

Perhaps it is because such a foundation still remains strong that the Congress and the BJP even today have structures that can merge effortlessly.

Some time ago, the entire Congress in Arunachal Pradesh merged with the BJP. The then Chief Minister, Mr. Pema Khandu, took all Congress MLAs along with him into the BJP. He is now governing the state as a BJP Chief Minister.

Now, here in Kerala, news has emerged that the Congress in an entire panchayat has merged with the BJP. In Mattathur grama panchayat in Thrissur, the Congress merged with the BJP to defeat the Left. After the election, the Congress had eight members and the BJP had four. To defeat the Left, which had ten members, all eight Congress members resigned from the party and merged with the BJP!

If Mattathur reflects an effortless merger, then in Kumarakom, Kottayam, the Congress and BJP are in an open alliance without formally merging. There, the Left was defeated and power was taken by carrying the lotus along with the hand symbol.

On the very same day came news that Congress Working Committee member Mr Digvijaya Singh praised Modi and indirectly mocked Nehru. He even advised the Congress to learn from the RSS.

In a Congress led by a former KPCC president who once stood guard for an RSS shakha, an Opposition Leader favoured by the RSS who inaugurated Golwalkar’s birth centenary celebrations, and an All India Secretary who handed over a Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan to the BJP on a platter, it would be surprising if such effortless mergers did not happen.

To bring the BJP to power, it is not necessary for the BJP itself to win. From Mattathur to Kumarakom, it is being proven that it is enough if the Congress wins.