Formation of an alliance of regional parties to fight the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the party's approach towards the Congress are likely to be the key points of discussion at the 23rd CPM party congress beginning in Kerala on Wednesday.
The five-day meet being held at party citadel Kannur will be attended by over 800 delegates from across the country. The political deliberations at the party congress assumes significance as it comes ahead of the next general elections and at a time when deliberations of an alternative front without Congress have been gaining momentum.
An invitation to the meet was extended to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin – who CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had described as the most acceptable person to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of non-BJP ruling states. This could be seen as a step towards strengthening the deliberations for forming the anti-BJP alliance.
A discussion on electoral understanding with the grand old party may also come up during the meet even as the CPM's draft political resolution for the party congress stated that there cannot be a political alliance with the Congress.
Political analysts, however, feel that despite getting routed in many states, Congress still seems to be the only party to rally regional parties against the BJP. Moreover, political strategist Prashant Kishor had also stated recently that there was a chance for the Congress to make a comeback as the BJP was struggling in many states, including the south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Though the CPM-led Left Democratic Front had a dismal outing — winning just one of 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala — in the 2019 elections, the party still has a better chance on its own as the factors that favoured the Congress in 2019 have faded out and the BJP is yet to gain any electoral influence in Kerala. Of the three CPM MPs in the Lok Sabha, one is from Kerala and two are from Tamil Nadu.
Senior political analyst Jacob George said that even though the Congress faced many setbacks over the years, it alone seems to be the most acceptable party — among all those opposed to the BJP — to lead a coalition against the saffron party at the national level. Hence, it would not be proper for the CPM to push for an Opposition front against the BJP without Congress.
Sources said that even as the party resolutions rejected a political alliance with Congress, a section of the national leadership was not agreeing to it. But the Kerala unit of CPM, which does not have an upper hand in the party even after retaining power in the state, strongly opposed such an alliance as it may weaken the party's fight against the Congress in the state.
The Congress is also taking a tough stand against the CPM in Kerala. The leadership banned the likes of Shashi Tharoor from participating in a seminar organised in connection with the CPM party congress.
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