The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) state secretariat on Friday described a “fast-solidifying secret alliance” between the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the “Islamist” Jamaat-e-Islami to “jointly divide the electorate and exploit fundamentalist votes” in a crucial election year.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan told a press conference that the Jamaat-e-Islami ideology is gaining strength in the UDF. He alleged that the IUML had opened the door to Jamaat-e-Islami’s insidious attempt to drive UDF politics from behind the curtains.
“Congress should recognize the danger of courting Jamaat-e-Islami for political expediency. Radical political Islam creates a fertile ground for Hindu majoritarianism and Sangh Parivar ethno-nationalism. Such extreme identity politics promoted by reactionary groups will undermine broad secular politics rooted in issues of livelihood, civic development and social progress affecting people’s lives,” Mr Govindan said.
Mr. Govindan said the UDF-Jamaat-e-Islami accord was most evident in Malappuram district, where the IUML had considerable influence.
“Declared Support”
He said the IUML had declared support for Jamaat-e-Islami candidates in grama panchayats in Iroor and Mambadi taluks in the district as reciprocity for the “Islamist” organization’s support in other local bodies in north Kerala.
Mr. Govindan said District Congress Committee (DCC), Kozhikode President K. Praveen Kumar had inadvertently admitted that the UDF was in league with the Indian Welfare Party, the political arm of Jamaat-e-Islami, without officially accepting the party into the opposition coalition.
He said Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan had publicly courted Jamaat-e-Islami and the “fundamentalist” Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2026 Assembly elections.
“Mr Satheesan claimed that the Jamaat-e-Islami rejected its Islamist ideology aimed at transforming India into a theocratic order governed by Sharia law,” he said. In contrast, Mr. Govindan said the Jamaat-e-Islami state camp leadership in Malappuram reiterated the organisation’s ideological loyalty to Syed Abul Ala Maududi, a conservative Islamist scholar whose writings championed the cause of an Islamic state in India.
Mr. Govindan said the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) election outreach to minorities, most recently Muslims, was a sham. He said minorities, including Christians, were increasingly vulnerable to attacks by Sangh Parivar organizations in BJP-ruled states in northern India, despite assurances from the party’s state leadership.
Published – 07 Nov 2025 20:25 IST
