Jamaat-e-Islami leading UDF: M V Govindan

Thiruvananthapuram: The ideological leadership of the United Democratic Front (UDF) now lies with Jamaat-e-Islami, CPI M state secretary M V Govindan said on Thursday. He alleged that the UDF’s decision to collaborate with Jamaat-e-Islami across Kerala is a deeply serious and dangerous development.

“At a time when Jamaat-e-Islami has openly reaffirmed its support for religious nationalism, the Congress has chosen to align with it. Their only objective is to obstruct the progress of the Left Democratic Front in the state,” Govindan said at a press meet. He criticised the Congress for attempting to disguise its alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. “Now the Congress claims it doesn’t intend to reveal the tie-up publicly. That’s absurd. If they deny it in public, it only means the understanding exists in secret,” he said.

The revelation, he noted, came from Kozhikode DCC president Praveen Kumar, although such statements should have been made by the UDF convenor, KPCC president Sunny Joseph, or the Opposition Leader.

“None of them have denied the alliance. In the last parliamentary and by-elections, Congress worked hand in hand with SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami. Even Opposition Leader V D Satheesan admitted there was no difficulty in securing their support and claimed these organisations were not promoting religious nationalism. After that, for the DCC president to say there is no open agreement is meaningless,” CPI M state secretary added. According to M V Govindan, both the Muslim League and the UDF are in active talks with Jamaat-e-Islami. “In Ponmundam panchayat in Tirur taluk, a League–Jamaat-e-Islami alliance is already functioning. These developments are not hidden; elections cannot conceal such arrangements. Discussions have progressed in Mambad, and similar talks are underway in Angadippuram. In Koottilangadi, they’ve even decided to make a Jamaat-e-Islami leader the panchayat president. In several parts of Malappuram, the UDF–Jamaat-e-Islami alliance has taken shape even before the election announcement,” he said. “The UDF is now ideologically guided by Jamaat-e-Islami and has become part of a strong communal front. This poses a grave danger to Kerala’s secular fabric,” Govindan warned. He said the Congress’s collaboration with a group that has declared its commitment to religious nationalism is a political manoeuvre aimed solely at halting the Left’s advancement.

“The DCC president’s statement is an attempt to hide this communal alliance. Saying there is no public understanding is, in fact, an admission that a secret one exists. Yet the Congress still lacks the courage to admit it openly,” he remarked. On a separate note, Govindan referred to international developments, citing the victory of Indian-origin Democratic Socialist leader Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral election as a sign of how socialism is regaining its relevance in shaping the future of the world.”