Kerala polls: M.A. Baby says ‘won’t say no’ if organisations, including SDPI, choose to vote for Left

Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M. A Baby has said that his party “will not say no”, if organisations, including the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI), decide to support the Left front candidates in the Kerala Assembly elections “on their own.”

“The Left front will not say no based on the character certificate of the (respective) party and those working in it. We can consider it as an attempt on their part to make a course correction in their political approaches if they decide to cast their votes in favour of the Left front candidates in constituencies where they do not want some other candidate to win,” Mr. Baby told mediapersons in Kochi on Wednesday.

He was responding to a query on whether it was ‘fair’ to accept the electoral support offered by the SDPI, which had a key role in the murder of Abhimanyu M., an activist of the Students Federation of India (SFI) at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, campus in July 2018.

He said the CPI(M) and the Left front have not entered into any alliance with “communal organisations”, including the SDPI. “It is the Congress party, which has entered into such alliances to reap electoral gains,” he alleged.

On the arrest of filmmaker Ranjith, who had often proclaimed himself as a CPI(M) fellow traveller, in am alleged sexual harassment case, Mr. Baby said the law would take its own course. “Those who have committed anything wrong will face its consequences,” he said.

‘NDA manifesto just hollow promises’

He said the election manifesto of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was packed with “hollow promises”, while recalling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was yet to fulfil the promise “made in 2014” to bring back black money stashed abroad and deposit ₹15 lakh to every citizen’s bank account.

Slams Rahul Gandhi

Mr. Baby also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the latter’s remark that “the Congress party is the real Left.” He alleged that the Congress party has often “compromised its position” on fascist forces and supported anti-worker policies.