Violence does not pay

Kerala CPM must mull over by-poll loss 

The June 2 by-poll in Neyyattinkara Assembly constituency in Kerala, the results of which were announced last weekend, is simultaneously an example of how the political parties can transform democracy into a mockery and a huge lesson for the CPI(M) on why it should end its politics of terror. 

R Selvaraj, candidate of the Congress-led ruling UDF, won the by-election by beating his nearest CPI(M) rival F Lawrence of the Opposition LDF (BJP’s O Rajagopal claimed a proud third place by enhancing the party’s vote-share in the seat by 500 per cent as compared to the 2011 score). Just over a year ago, Mr Selvaraj himself had won the Neyyattinkara seat in the Assembly elections, but he had won it for the CPI(M) then. On March 9, he resigned from the State Assembly and also from the CPI(M) to become a Congressman and its candidate in the by-poll he himself imposed on the people. The Congress leadership welcomed Mr Selvaraj without any scruple, drawing flak for political horse-trading. More disgusting was the manner in which the Congress and its allies used the issue of the brutal murder of a Marxist rebel to overcome their own frailties and ensure Mr Selvaraj’s victory. The blame for letting him become an MLA of the Opposition as well as the ruling party in the same (13th) Assembly in Kerala should be taken by the CPI(M) because this was made possible only due to the murder of rebel leader TP Chandrasekharan, allegedly by a Marxist killer gang. The UDF had gone into the by-election on shaky ground due to issues like the allotment of a fifth Cabinet post to Front constituent Muslim League (which had infuriated the majority communities and other coalition partners), rifts within the Congress and the front that the Congress led, rising prices, cut in kerosene allocation, etc.

In this sense, the brutal murder of Chandrasekharan on May 4, just five days before the notification of the by-poll came, proved to be a godsend as far as the Congress was concerned. Moreover, Idukki’s Marxist leader MM Mani ensured Mr Selvaraj’s victory with his controversial disclosure that Marxists used to kill their adversaries as per prepared hit-lists. These two incidents overshadowed all the issues that should have been discussed in the by-poll. The beneficiary of the obfuscation of the key issues has been the ruling UDF. While the Marxists were trying to establish their domination through the politics of murder and brazen intimidation, the Congress used even the dead to ensure its political victory. But, what both sides have been forgetting is that they are playing the game of violence and opportunism on the people who elect them to power. Politicians must realise that the voters will not always tolerate such soulless politics.

Courtesy : Daily Pioneer