Kochi: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s aggressive posturing in his post-results press conference against the attempts by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to play a more dominant role in the state’s politics showed a marked difference in his attitude towards the saffron party before the elections. It betrays a late realisation within the party that its soft, or rather encouraging attitude towards the BJP’s attempt at communalising the state’s politics has cost the party dear in the election to the local bodies.
“The analysis that the party is no longer the first choice of the minorities in the fight against communal forces is apt,” said a Congress MLA. “They may repose their trust in the party nationally but it seems to have lost that position in the minds of the minorities in the state,” he said.
While the UDF did well in central Travancore region where there is a concentration of Christian population, the results were discouraging in Malabar. The UDF had a shocker when it failed to muster a simple majority in Kannur corporation, considered a citadel for the ruling front. It had reverses in Kozhikode district also.
The Chief Minister’s failure to react timely and adequately to the Delhi police’s raid on Kerala House in the national capital betrayed Mr Chandy’s apparent soft stand towards the Hindutva forces. On the other hand, the LDF showed deftness in assessing the impact it can have on the Kerala psyche and launched a strong protest series against the attempt at introducing fascist practices in Kerala.
The difference in the way the two fronts reacted to the incident did not go unnoticed by the minorities. The party had lost precious time, and the confidence of the minorities, by the time senior Congress leader A K Antony intervened to set the Congress record right on its strident position against the attempts at saffronising the nation’s polity.
Download the all new Deccan Chronicle app for Android and iOS to stay up-to-date with latest headlines and news stories in politics, entertainment, sports, technology, business and much more from India and around the world.
