The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) rejected the Social Democratic Party of India’s (SDPI) support in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The UDF had drawn intense flak from the CPI(M) and BJP for “soliciting” the support of an allegedly religious fundamentalist organisation that supposedly “bore the stigma” of being the political front of the proscribed PFI.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) acting president M. M. Hassan and Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan sought to end the controversy by stating that the UDF leadership in Wayanad on Wednesday had categorically rejected the SDPI’s support.
Mr. Satheesan said the Congress rejected majority and minority communalism. They were two sides of the same coin. “Citizens vote as individuals, and the UDF hopes to get their endorsement on the merit of its manifesto and political agenda”, he said.
Speaking to a television channel, SDPI State president Ashraf Moulavi vehemently denied the insinuation that the SDPI was a fundamentalist organisation.
“The SDPI is a political party recognised by the Election Commission of India (ECI). It has more than 2000 elected local body representatives nationwide and is poised to contest 20 LS seats in different parts of the country, except Kerala”, Mr. Moulavi said.
Mr. Moulavi said the UDF did not seek SDPI’s support. After due deliberation, the SDPI made the political decision to back the Congress and refrain from contesting in the UDF’s stronghold in Kerala.
“No democratic entity contesting elections can afford to say we do not need votes of any particular group or another”, he pointed out.
The Congress’s decision to disavow the SDPI reportedly stemmed from the IUML’s opposition and the anxiety that any alliance with the organisation could imperil the UDF’s support among Christians and Hindus.
The UDF reportedly felt that the 2010 PFI attack on a college teacher on the charge of blasphemy remained stark in public memory.
In Malappuram, CPI(M) State Secretary M. V. Govindan said the UDF had won SDPI’s support in the Lok Sabha elections by promising reciprocity in the next LSGI elections.
SDPI State president Ashraf Moulavi
Mr. Govindan alleged that the fear of defeat had driven the UDF into embracing communal forces. He said that in Tamil Nadu, the SDPI had allied with the AIDMK, a former BJP ally, and fielded a candidate against the CPI(M) in the current LS polls.
Mr. Govindan said the SDPI was the latest entrant into the long-established “Congress-League-BJP (KOLIBI)“ cabal.
