CPI(M) rejects the inference that Nilambur's win widened UDF's path to victory in 2026 Assembly polls
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretariat emphatically rejected the reading that the Nilambur Assembly by-election win had significantly widened the Opposition United Democratic Front's (UDF) path to victory in the 2026 Assembly elections.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan told a press conference that, on the contrary, the party had shored up its base in Nilambur despite the UDF harnessing radical Islamist and Hindu majoritarian forces to its electoral bandwagon.
Mr. Govindan said the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) vote share had increased substantially in the Nilambur Assembly segment, from an estimated 40,000 in the 2024 Lok Sabha by-election to 66,060 in the recently concluded Assembly bypoll. The results put paid to the UDF's claim that the bypoll was a verdict against the LDF government.
'The CPI(M) has an assured 40,000 votes in Nilambur. The party has added 22,000 additional votes to its latest tally. The trend, if it holds, will decimate the UDF in the local body polls in 2025 and the 2026 Assembly elections. The UDF has missed the larger picture,' he said.
Mr. Govindan said the CPI(M) faced strong headwinds in Nilambur. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) conducted a communally divisive campaign using the UDF's alliance with the 'radical Islamist' Jama'at-e-Islami as a front.
He said the SDPI, despite fielding its candidate, cross-voted for the UDF. Its vote share in the Assembly segment dwindled from 4.751 in the 2024 LS by-poll to 2,275 in the Assembly by-poll.
Mr. Govindan said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate stated publicly that his supporters had resorted to last-minute tactical voting to aid the UDF.
Mr. Govindan said the Nilambur bypoll was ominous for Kerala's secular polity. The UDF opened the door for Islamist and Hindu majoritarian outfits to leverage votes through schismatic communal messaging. The IUML and Congress have abandoned broad-based party politics. Instead, they have stoked profoundly divisive identity politics for electoral gain.
Mr. Govindan said P.V. Anvar piggybacked on the LDF's development initiatives in Nilambur for electoral advantage. The party machinery foundered in countering the gambit.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
K.C. Venugopal slams RSS, Union Ministers over call to drop ‘secular' and ‘socialist' from Preamble
All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal, MP, has slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Union Ministers for suggesting the removal of the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Preamble of the Constitution. Speaking to media persons in Alappuzha on Saturday, Mr. Venugopal said the RSS-BJP agenda to amend the Constitution would not be allowed to succeed. 'There is a conspiracy. After all, the BJP came to power by creating confusion and doubt among the people. Union Ministers have said that secularism and socialism are unnecessary. This amounts to a violation of the Constitution,' he said. The Congress leader said the RSS was evoking memories of the Emergency to push for Constitutional amendments. 'Even the word socialism seems to scare them. The claim that the RSS stands for the Hindu community is false. We will not allow secularism and socialism to be removed. We will resist any such move, including in Parliament,' Mr. Venugopal said. RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has suggested removing the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Preamble. Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Jitendra Singh later threw their weight behind the idea. Earlier, inaugurating the Youth Congress training camp in Alappuzha, he called for strengthening the organisation from the grassroots. 'Good leadership is not enough. The foundation should be strong. We need to strengthen the foundation of the organisation to move forward,' Mr. Venugopal said.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Who Is Arya Rajendran, India's Youngest Mayor, Cited By NYC's Mamdani In Now-Viral Post?
Last Updated: Mamdani's 2020 post about CPI(M) leader Arya Rajendran, who became India's youngest mayor at the time, became viral after he won the race for New York Mayor. Zohran Mamdani, 33, stunned political circles in the United States by defeating former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as well as the Democratic establishment to win the party's primary for mayor – in what is being described as a political earthquake in the US. However, his victory put the spotlight on Kerala politician, Arya Rajendran. Mamdani, the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair, is on course to become the first Muslim Mayor of New York. His campaign focused on everyday economic issues like housing, transportation, child care and food prices. Mamdani attracted the scorn of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) base over his socialist rhetoric and religion. US President Donald Trump slammed his victory, calling him a '100% Communist Rhetoric". Mamdani's views on Israel – whom he has accused of committing a 'genocide' in Gaza – did not sit well with Republicans and some Democrats. Who Is Arya Rajendran? However, attention has turned to Mamdani's 2020 post on CPI(M) leader Arya Rajendran, who at the time became the youngest Mayor in the country and took charge of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Rajendran is a prominent leader from Kerala's Nair community who created history by becoming the youngest mayor anywhere in the world in 2020 at the age of 21, breaking the records of Sabitha Beegum becoming Kollam mayor at 23 and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis becoming Nagpur mayor at 27. In the 2020 civic elections, Rajendran won from Mudavanmugal ward in the city, defeating her nearest Congress rival by a margin of 549 votes. The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front bagged 51 seats, BJP 34, UDF ten seats and others five in the election. She is married to CPI(M) MLA Sachin Dev. In 2023, Rajendran made headlines after a photo of her working from her office with her one-month-old baby went viral. She was inducted into the CPI(M)'s Thiruvananthapuram District Committee in 2024. Why Is Mamdani's Post Going Viral? Mamdani had then retweeted a post from the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Puducherry committee congratulating Rajendran for her achievement, writing 'them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now? me:" them: so what kind of mayor does nyc need right now?me: — Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) December 27, 2020 This post showing his early political ambitions is being highlighted now to claim that Mamdani is a communist. 'Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think Arya Rajendran would be a matter of discussion in the New York mayoral election," a user wrote on X. Several right-wing politicians and influencers also branded him as a 'communist", claiming he will destroy New York with his liberal and progressive agenda. Mamdani has also been criticised for his views on India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. First Published: June 27, 2025, 08:18 IST
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Protests rage against Zumba, Kerala govt doubles down: ‘Keep religion away from education'
Amid growing protests against the Kerala government's decision to introduce the fitness dance form Zumba in schools, the state's Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government has said it would not budge. The government had announced introducing Zumba in schools earlier this year. The decision has triggered protests from religious outfits such as SAMSATHA, which has a high stake in religious education in Kerala and outside the state. The outfits claim that the move would adversely affect morality. On Saturday, the protests swelled after more organisations came out against it. CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby told media in Kozhikode that organisations had the right to make comments on issues including in the education sector, 'religion should be kept away from education'. 'Children should grow mingling with one another. Those who oppose should rethink their stand. In a secular country, religion should be kept away from public education. They can comment on issues, but they should not dictate terms on education,' he said. Meanwhile, the government too doubled down, calling the protest 'more dangerous than the drug menace' and that it was 'more dangerous than the drug menace'. 'Certain quarters have come out against Zumba, which is being introduced in schools as part of anti-drug initiatives,' Education minister and CPI(M) leader V Sivankutty said. 'What is being held in schools is a short physical fitness programme. Students are performing Zumba in their uniforms.' He further said: 'According to the Right to Education (Act), it is mandatory for all students to take part in learning activities suggested by the government. Parents have no choice in it. According to the rules, the teachers have the responsibility to undertake activities per orders of the education department. Nobody has asked the students to wear revealing dresses and participate in Zumba'. The minister also shared videos of students of two schools in Muslim-majority areas performing Zumba in uniform wearing headscarves. Higher education minister Dr R Bindu also shared a video of college students — including Catholic nuns — dancing to music at a college in Irinjalakuda in Thrissur. The protest against Zumba will take Kerala to the dark ages, he said. This came on a day when Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen state president Hussain Madavoor once again made his objections known. 'Girls and boys dancing in revealing dresses will adversely affect their mental status. Even if they are performing Zumba in school uniform, we cannot agree that girls and boys dance together,' he said. Likewise, Wisdom Islamic Organisation general secretary T K Ashraf said children are not being sent to school 'perform mixed dance'. 'There may be people who see Zumba dancing as progressive (but) it is highly deplorable to depict those who oppose Zumba as extremists and retrogressive,' he said. This isn't the first time that there were protests against some of the CPI (M)-led government's gender-neutral policies. The government's attempt introducing gender neutral uniforms in schools and plans to do away with separate benches for girls and boys in schools also met a brick wall. Meanwhile, CPI(M) general secretary M. A Baby was accused of promoting atheism in school textbooks when he was the education minister from 2006 to 2011 and was forced to withdraw one textbook. The Zumba row is another litmus test for the CPI(M) regime, which, after its disastrous showing in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has been leaving no chance to attack 'Islamic extremism'.
