'Three out of 4 CPM MPs won with Jamaat-e-Islami's support'

Thiruvananthapuram: Countering the CPM Kerala leadership's criticism that Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi won from Wayanad with the support of Muslim extremist outfits, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind has claimed that three out of the four sitting MPs of CPM in the Lok Sabha had won with its support.

JIH Kerala secretary Shihab Pookkottur made the claim in a social media post by posting pictures of a CPM sitting MP and a former MP with the JIH leaders.

CPM at present has one MP each from Kerala and Rajasthan and two from Tamil Nadu in the Lok Sabha.

Pookkottur claimed that the one MP from Rajasthan and two MPs from Tamil Nadu won with JIH's support. He also shared pictures of CPM MP from Rajasthan Amra Ram along with JIH leaders from Rajasthan, including Khurshid Hussain. He also shared another picture of former CPM MP from Tamil Nadu P R Natarajan with JIH leaders at Coimbatore.

"The CPM is now considering JIH's support to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as a major offence. They are indeed trying to trigger Hindu communal sentiments," he said.

If it was CPM politburo member and former MP A Vijayaraghavan who kicked off the criticism that Rahul and Priyanka won from Wayanad with support of Muslim extremist outfits, other CPM senior leaders including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also backed it.

Vijayan said on Monday that the CPM had openly stated that it did not want the support of communal outfits. He also said that the Congress which accepted the support of JIH and SDPI, which is considered as the political arm of the banned outfit Popular Front of India, is now trying to trigger a row over it.

Congress and Indian Union Muslim League leaders had strongly reacted to the CPM's criticism that Rahul and Priyanka won with support of Muslim extremist outfits. Congress camps are concerned that the allegations being made by a coalition partner in the I.N.D.I.A. alliance itself could be used by the BJP to campaign against the Congress top leaders in the northern states.

The CPM's fresh campaign also seems to be part of their strategies to plug the flow of their Hindu votes to the BJP, which was evident in the recent elections. Already the CPM has decided to distance themselves from the Congress as the local body polls and Assembly polls in Kerala are set to happen in 2025 and 2026 respectively.