Kasaragod (Kerala) | CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Sunday said the party has neither held discussions with the SDPI nor entered into any pact with it for the April 9 Assembly polls.

Rejecting UDF's allegations, Baby told reporters here that no such understanding exists.

“If such a pact existed, we would have discussed it with them. But CPI(M) has not held any discussion,” he said.

He asserted that the CPI(M) and the LDF would not engage with parties pursuing politics based on communal lines or enter into any agreement with them.

Baby said the focus of the current election should not be on which way outfits like SDPI and Jamaat-e-Islami, or their political wing, the Welfare Party, would vote.

“This is a major talking point for the UDF because they depend on such parties. In the past, they had an understanding with the RSS in the Nemom Assembly constituency and the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency,” he alleged.

He further claimed that there was a tacit deal between the Congress and the BJP during last year’s local body elections in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Corporations.

“Congress helped the BJP win in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, while the BJP supported the Congress in Kollam Corporation,” he alleged.

He also claimed that the Welfare Party functioned as an ally of the UDF in the local body polls.

Baby reiterated that the CPI(M) would not engage with the SDPI or the Welfare Party unless such groups abandon communal politics.

On party leaders quitting and contesting as independents, he said such developments were not new and would not affect the party.

“In the past, several prominent leaders, including KR Gouri Amma, left the party, yet it continued to grow. Those who leave eventually regret it, but the party remains,” he said.

He cautioned people against divisive forces seeking to provoke voters along communal and caste lines.

Baby said the CPI(M) and the LDF uphold secular values and do not divide people on the basis of religion, caste or language.

He added that the LDF government has taken the state forward across sectors over the past 10 years and should be given another term.