The experiment of the CPI(M) to strengthen its relations with the Muslim community by wooing disgruntled elements of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) from time to time is viewed in the party circles as a liability for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) after the gold smuggling case hanging over the heads of some leaders.
The gold smuggling case, according to CPI(M) sources, has set off debates within the party circles about the party continuing the experiment. The latest trigger for the debate is Karat Faisal, an LDF-backed councillor of Koduvally municipality, being taken into custody by the Customs Commissionerate (Preventive) in Kochi last week in connection with the gold smuggling case. The sleuths also raided and seized documents from a private hospital of which he is the executive director. Incidentally, P.T.A. Rahim, another CPI(M)-backed legislator, representing Kunnamangalam segment, is the chairman of the hospital.
Already, a section of the CPI(M) cadres in north Kerala has covertly expressed reservations about the party continuing this experiment in the wake of the interrogation of the Minister of Higher Education, K.T. Jaleel, by the premier anti-terror agency, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a week after he was questioned by another Central agency, the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Lok Sabha polls
The party leadership has been wobbling around this experiment even after the LDF’s dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls last year. The induction of the Indian National League into the LDF and the subsequent merger of the National Secular Conference (NSC) of Mr. Rahim failed to impact the community arithmetic in its favour unlike the previous Assembly polls.
Incidentally, the merger of the NSC with INL was done with the approval of the CPI(M). Mr. Rahim, a former district secretary of the IUML, had left the party almost a decade ago and won from Koduvally and Kunnamangalam Assembly segments in the 2006 and 2011 polls. Mr. Rahim was in the news when his son and son- in-law were among the 19 Keralites arrested in Saudi Arabia two years ago.
Karat Razak, legislator of Koduvally, was the IUML’s general secretary of the Koduvally mandalam before he won with the support of the LDF in the 2016 Assembly elections.
Last year, although the Supreme Court had stayed a Kerala High Court verdict disqualifying Mr. Razak, the apex court had restrained him from taking part in voting in the Assembly and he would not receive any emoluments as an MLA.
Published - October 07, 2020 01:20 am IST
