Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 25 (IANS) CPI-M leader and former convenor of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), E.P. Jayarajan, has alleged that Congress candidate Rahul Mamkootathil won the Palakkad Assembly by-election by aligning with radical elements and groups.

The CPI-M leader said, “The UDF tactfully used the split in the BJP to woo voters. Those who opposed Krishnakumar (BJP candidate in the bypoll) were working for the UDF in Palakkad. At the same time, radical groups that aim to transform India into an Islamic state, such as the SDPI, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Popular Front, supported the UDF in this election.”

E.P. Jayarajan, who is also a former minister in Kerala, accused the UDF of adopting a policy of communal appeasement and described their victory as a triumph of communalism.

However, he expressed satisfaction over the BJP’s loss in the by-election.

CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan had earlier made similar allegations, claiming that the Congress won the Palakkad by-election by appeasing communal groups like the Jamaat-e-Islami and the SDPI.

It is worth noting that the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) is the political wing of the banned Islamist organisation, Popular Front of India (PFI).

Kerala’s Minister for Urban Development, M.B. Rajesh, who is also a CPI-M state secretariat member, echoed these sentiments, asserting that the Congress embraced communal elements to secure victory.

Minister for Law P. Rajeeve similarly emphasised that the BJP should reflect on its declining vote share in the by-election.

In the Palakkad bypoll, UDF candidate Rahul Mamkootathil secured 58,389 votes, defeating BJP’s C. Krishnakumar, who received 39,549 votes.

The LDF candidate, P. Sarin, a former digital media convener of the KPCC who switched to the Left after the Congress announced Rahul Mamkootathil’s candidature, came third with 37,293 votes.

CPI-M central committee member and former minister A.K. Balan, who oversaw the by-election for the Left Front, remarked that the CPI-M-backed Independent candidate, P. Sarin, had performed well and reiterated the party’s support for him.