Thiruvananthapuram | CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Sunday said the ruling LDF cannot decide on accepting or rejecting support from other parties based on their “conduct certificates,” asserting that there is no electoral understanding with the SDPI in Kerala ahead of the Assembly polls.
He said the Marxist party has not sought support from the Social Democratic Party of India, but cannot discourage any political outfit from extending backing on its own.
The SDPI is the political arm of the banned Islamist outfit Popular Front of India (PFI).
Baby said the Left cannot announce its decision on accepting or rejecting support from any party solely based on its conduct certificate, as new political circumstances arise during each election.
“If we had no criticism against SDPI, we would have requested their support. We have never sought it now. The outfit has extended support in certain constituencies for its own reasons, and we cannot discourage that,” he said, adding that the SDPI has not announced its stance in all constituencies.
Apparently referring to the Nemom constituency, Baby said the support extended to the LDF there by the outfit was aimed at preventing the victory of a BJP-RSS candidate, as the right-wing party had won the seat in a previous election.
He also alleged that the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) maintained close ties with organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami and the Welfare Party, claiming they function alongside the alliance like constituent partners.
The senior leader further said feedback gathered during his visits across districts indicated a favourable political atmosphere for the Left Front in the April 9 polls.
He added that even people outside the LDF’s traditional support base had expressed positive opinions about the government’s performance.
Highlighting the LDF government’s track record, Baby said the ruling front was seeking a renewed mandate based on what he described as a decade of governance that has brought visible changes in people’s lives.
He also accused the Congress of raising “baseless allegations,” including claims of a tacit understanding between CPI(M) and the BJP, to divert attention from development issues.
