Jamaat-e-Islami Hind says will vote for ‘winnable’ LDF, UDF candidates in Kerala Assembly polls to keep BJP at bay

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, the Jamaat-e-Islami has made its political stance clear by declaring its support for “winnable non-BJP candidates” in constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a considerable presence.

Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (January 7, 2025), Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Kerala amir P. Mujeeb Rahman said that though the organisation has “strong reservations” against the Left parties in Kerala, it would support the candidates, including those from the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), in constituencies to keep the BJP at bay.

Admitting that the same stance was taken in the recently concluded local body polls, Mr. Rahman said the “main agenda” of the organisation was to “keep the BJP away from power” in Kerala. The same stance would be adopted in the coming Assembly polls too by urging the workers of the outfits aligned with the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to vote for winnable non-BJP candidates irrespective of their political affiliation to the ruling LDF or Congress-led UDF, he said.

On the other hand, he strongly criticised the Left government in Kerala, especially Communist Party of India (Marxist), for “whipping up communal sentiments to consolidate Hindu votes in favour of the party.”

“The polarising politics of the Left in Kerala to retain power for the third term cannot be accepted. To achieve this goal, the CPI(M) has been using the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind as a tool for consolidating the Hindu votes. This is a dangerous move, and it will damage the social and secular fabric of Kerala,” said Mr. Rahman.

In reply to the comments of CPI(M) leader A.K. Balan that “the Jamaat-e-Islami would control the Home department” if the UDF came to power in Kerala, Mr. Rahman said Mr. Balan “should not become the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.”

“The CPI(M) should also not try to use the Marad riot as a weapon when even the BJP has not used it as a political weapon,” he said. “If there are any sensible people in the CPI(M), they should correct A.K. Balan,” he added.

Drawing lessons from the local body poll results, the LDF and the UDF should be ready to work in tandem and support each other in Kerala as in the INDIA alliance to keep the BJP away from power, including in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, where the BJP is the ruling party “in the wake of the ideological difference between the LDF and the UDF,” he said.