CPI(M) says Congress’ anti-Left campaign in Kerala weakening I.N.D.I.A. bloc unity

New Delhi: CPI(M) on Monday castigated the Congress for its attack on the Left party during Kerala elections by linking it with the BJP and said the grand old party’s attitude to the Opposition parties is not helpful in building unity in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc in the fight the BJP-RSS.

General Secretary MA Baby acknowledged that his party is conscious that the Congress has an “important role” to play in this fight but said many a time it misses this point while addressing the “narrow and immediate” demand of electoral battle in a particular state.

He also virtually ruled out any change in leadership in Kerala following demands that Pinarayi Vijayan should step down as Leader of Opposition, saying they are committed to course correction but it does not mean leadership change. Leaders change according to developments, he said.

In Kerala, he said the preliminary analysis indicated that there was a “strategic transfer” of BJP votes to defeat LDF candidates, particularly ministers, and reduce their majority and only a detailed examination would provide its extent.

Baby’s remarks came at a press conference, a day after the three-day meeting of CPI(M) Central Committee in which leaders agreed that there was a consolidation of Hindutva communal forces in West Bengal while acknowledging that the BJP’s victory in Kerala was a “major concern”.

On the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, Baby said the growth of the far-right necessitates the unity of all Left, progressive, secular, and democratic forces but the attitude of the Congress towards other parties is not helpful in building the unity of secular forces in a united fight against the RSS-BJP.

He said Congress top leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi made “baseless allegations” about a CPI(M)-BJP “deal” in Kerala. Electoral battles should be fought with dignity and decorum but the Congress did not display it, he said.

At the same time, he also ruled out a truck with the Trinamool Congress, claiming that it attacked its cadre in West Bengal. Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has demanded that a meeting of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc be convened in the first week of June.

In certain states, Baby said, it is not possible to have unity owing to peculiar political conditions and engage in “friendly fights”, which sometimes turn “very unfriendly”. But one has to understand that the “fascistic” RSS and the BJP controlled by it is a “big threat”, he said.

“Wherever possible, we should try to resolve issues. We cannot wish away the objective reality,” he said.

On West Bengal, Baby said the party could recoup and the re-entry of the Party in West Bengal legislature is a positive development while emphasising that the defeat in Kerala was a “major setback”. In Kerala, he said the state committee and secretariat would be meeting next month to analyse the views expressed by lower committees on election results.

He said a larger cooperation in West Bengal will be attempted by involving other Left parties and groups, as during the elections they managed to register their presence in a significant manner. “The results of Falta seat where CPI(M) came second shows that the Left is re-emerging as a force against RSS,” he said.

The Central Committee will meet in the later half of July 2026 and on the basis of all the state reviews, it will carry out a thorough review of the results. Rectification of the identified weaknesses will be immediately undertaken from top to bottom.