The slugfest over the government’s COVID-19 containment strategy targeting Health Minister K.K. Shylaja, the debate within the Indian Union Muslim League over the move to strike an electoral pact with the Welfare Party of India (WPI) potentially putting its ideological moorings in peril, and the schism in the Kerala Congress (Mani) [KC(M)] offer adequate hints on how the pandemic and intra-party squabbles could dominate the local body election campaign.
The repeated attempts of the United Democratic Front to punch holes in the government’s COVID-19 management plan, with barbs mostly targeted at Ms. Shylaja, may have scraped the sheen off its strategy to put the government in the dock.
Politics during COVID-19 had been turning murky right from the reporting of the first case when the Opposition accused Ms. Shylaja of ‘media mania’ for her frequent media interactions to caution the public of the intensity of the crisis.
Mandatory tests
Since then, the debate had turned pungent at every point and even the decisions to conduct the SSLC, higher secondary and vocational higher secondary examinations and making COVID-19 test mandatory for repatriates were used by the UDF to whip the State government.
The latest in the series was the caustic observations of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullappally Ramachandran against the Health Minister.
CM defends Shylaja
With Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself taking the lead to mount a spirited defence of Ms. Shylaja, the Opposition had been put on the mat yet again.
Ideological position
The banner of revolt raised by the Youth League against the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leadership’s plans to strike a pact with the Welfare Party of India, which the youth brigade alleged went contrary to its ideological position and rocked its secular foundation, may trigger an intense debate.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has already flagged the issue and asked the leadership of the IUML to come clear on the issue.
The squabbles in the Kerala Congress (M) are also set to impact the UDF and could, by extension, lead to rumblings within the LDF too.
While the UDF faces the tall challenge of accommodating both KC(M) factions without rocking the boat, the CPI(M)’s willingness to open parleys with any UDF ally on quitting the front has annoyed the Communist Party of India (CPI) and it has protested against such attempts to widen the front.
Some of the issues dominating the political discussion at present may be ironed out in due course, but they might as well set the tone and tenor of the campaign.
