Freebies, vote mobilisation deals, and alliance politics take centre stage in Kerala
While the DMK and AIADMK, the rival parties in Tamil Nadu are wooing the voters with a list of freebies ranging from refrigerators, coupons worth Rs.8,000 for home makers, free sumptuous breakfast for school students, the Muslim League, an Islamic outfit in Kerala have devised a new strategy to make the party office bearers to garner maximum votes to party candidates contesting in the Assembly election.
C P Bava Haji, vice president, Muslim League, who is a big-time business baron based in West Asia, has come out with an irresistible offer to panchayat committee office bearers of the party who work for the success of V S Joy, the UDF candidate contesting from Thavanur in Malappuram. Haji has offered a 15-day junket to West Asia if they succeed in mobilizing maximum votes from their allocated wards for Joy of the Indian National Congress.
Not to be outdone, Muthukoya Thangal, another billionaire Muslim Leader in the neighboring constituency of Tanoor, who is a member of the party’s high-power State Secretariat, has offered Rs.25,000 each to panchayat-level office bearers who mobilize maximum votes to the party candidate (Muslim League) contesting the poll. Those who don’t manage to secure the maximum votes shouldn’t be disappointed. They will get Rs.15,000/- each as a consolation prize. Both Haji and Thangal are West Asia-based barons wielding big influence in the Muslim League, Congress, and the Communist Parties.
A case has been filed against Bava Haji under sections 173 of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and section 123(1) of the Representation of Peoples Act 1951 for offering bribes and inducements to the party leaders. The CPI(M) and Congress leaders have not dared to question the legality of the offers made by Haji and Thangal to their respective candidates. Both the LDF and the UDF leadership offer Rs.1000-Rs 2000 per day to each party volunteer engaged in the campaign work, along with three sumptuous meals and a full bottle of spirit at the end of the day.
The manifestos of the CPI(M)-led LDF and the Congress-led UDF may not match the offers made by the Muslim League leaders. Rahul Gandhi, who was in the state to sound his party’s battle-cry, has already announced free bus rides in KSRTC buses for all women commuters and an annual cash bonanza of Rs.5,000/- for women voters.
The BJP-led NDA has focused its attention on developing the infrastructure in the state, which includes hi-tech highways and high-speed trains. The NDA has grand visions to lift the health sector from the quagmire of lethargy, corruption, inefficiency, and poor service. Patients call on government hospitals in the state with silent prayers as the instances of wrong diagnosis and treatment are on the rise.
Though V D Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition, had claimed at the beginning of the election campaign that the front would romp home bagging more than 100 seats out of the total 140 seats at stake, the last fortnight has seen his shrill voice coming down and the number of seats going down from 100+ to less than 80. The CPI(M)-led front is struggling to stay afloat while the BJP-led NDA camp is a picture of confidence.
The Hindus in the state were taken aback by the declaration made by Satheesan that the Congress-led front is having a strong alliance with the Jamaat-E-Islami and other Islamic extremist organizations to prevent the BJP-led front from emerging as a third alternative in the state. The CPIM has an undeclared alliance with SDPI, the political wing of the banned Popular Front of India. “We are busy working round-the-clock to ensure the success of the LDF candidates, and we do not have time to elaborate on the alliance with any communal organizations,” said E P Jayarajan, former industries minister and CPI(M) strongman from Kannur.
Though the CPI(M) and CPI are unanimous in their opinion that the parties do not have any kind of alliance with communal organizations, the truth is that both parties are active units of the INDI Alliance and have a strong alliance with the Muslim League, Congress, SDPI, PDP, and PFI in the rest of the country. Outside Walayar check post (the border post between Kerala and Tamil Nadu), these parties are fighting the polls as part of the INDI Alliance. One can see the CPI(M) and Congress soliciting votes from all the Islamic extremist outfits, and this has baffled the voters in Kerala. If the Hindus in the state vote together against this unholy and unethical alliance, it will certainly lead to the lotus blooming in the state,” said Priyan, a popular political journalist working at Indus Live, a portal based in Kochi.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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