The enthusiastic minority participation in the human chain formed across the State at the behest of the Left Democratic Front against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Sunday has caused much discomfort in the United Democratic Front that is yet to crystallise a strategy for winning the confidence of such sections.
Legions of members of the Muslim community that thronged the protest venues in the Malabar region, mainly the stronghold of the Indian Union Muslim League, and the conspicuous presence of the Christian community, including nuns in the Congress bastions, rendered a jolt to the UDF.
But for stray efforts, mostly at the initiative of allies like the IUML and individual leaders, the front has still not been able to launch a solid movement against the CAA. In contrast, LDF had first launched a joint programme with the Opposition and then organised pan Kerala protests for which it extended an invitation to the UDF too.
LDF’s tactic
While the UDF resolved against holding hands with its political foes, the LDF made considerable headway with its workers conducting door-to-door campaigns and addressing family gatherings to mobilise support for the chain.
The outcome was quite evident in the huge turnout all over the State, especially in those districts in Malabar, where the minority communities are a force to reckon with.
The LDF had declared that all those who share an angst about the political developments in the country since the notification of the Act could join the human chain as a mass movement and it need not be construed as a political formation with an eye on the elections. Thus stance gave confidence to those sections that had developed a cold feet to become part of the chain.
Though IUML and Congress leaders chose to brush aside minorities’ participation as a normal response to an action which upheld their cause, it is likely to have more serious ramifications for the UDF.
The LDF has succeeded to a considerable extent in capturing the ground that the UDF ceded for want of a clear strategy and regaining it would not be easy either.
