Thiruvananthapuram, March 30
The Social Democratic Party of India has outlined a flexible, constituency-driven strategy for the Kerala Assembly elections, even as Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan sharpened his attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the issue of its backing for his LDF.
Kerala goes to the polls on April 9 to elect 140 new legislators.
SDPI national President M. K. Faizy on Monday said the party would support fronts best placed to defeat the BJP in seats where it is not contesting.
He indicated that the approach would vary across constituencies, combining open endorsements with "silent support" through internal directives to cadre.
In Nemom, the SDPI has decided to openly back the LDF candidate to block a BJP victory.
In Manjeswaram, however, a final call on supporting the UDF is yet to be taken, with the party opting to assess ground realities before issuing instructions.
Faizy made it clear that support will not always be publicly declared, signalling a calibrated and tactical electoral role.
Amid this, Satheesan challenged Vijayan to clearly state whether he would reject SDPI support.
He accused the Left of double standards, pointing out that the UDF had firmly declined SDPI backing during the parliamentary elections, while the CPI-M was now evasive on the issue.
He also alleged that the Left brands groups as communal selectively, depending on political convenience.
Reiterating the UDF's stand against both majority and minority communalism, Satheesan accused the CPI-M of publicly espousing secularism while allegedly engaging in covert understandings with both the RSS and SDPI, an allegation the Left has consistently denied.
Faizy, meanwhile, criticised sections of the Congress in Kerala for their hostility towards the SDPI, noting that political equations differ across states, including Tamil Nadu, where both parties are part of the same alliance.
He maintained that the SDPI is under no obligation to support leaders who oppose it.
On governance, the SDPI stopped short of calling the LDF government a complete failure, though it flagged shortcomings.
The party has also taken a firm stand in Thalassery, where it aims to defeat the LDF candidate by fielding a strong contender.
With both political positioning and counter-attacks intensifying, the SDPI's nuanced strategy and the escalating war of words between the UDF and LDF have added a new layer of complexity to Kerala's electoral battle.
Meanwhile, with the SDPI clearly dropping hints, Vijayan on Monday got miffed, like in the past few days, whenever he is posed with a question about his "softness" towards SDPI.
He has been flexing his muscles whenever the media questions him about the SDPI.
Since this issue flared up, TV channels are airing Vijayan's past tough stand towards SDPI and his attack on the Congress-led UDF.
On Monday, state Education Minister V. Sivankutty, fighting a tough battle against BJP state President Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Nemom, and two-time former Finance Minister Thomas Isaac dropped hints that they will take votes from all.
- IANS
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