Cracks within the INDIA bloc surfaced on Sunday as the national leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and Communist Party of India (CPI) chose to boycott the rally organized by the bloc at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. This boycott served as a protest against the Congress’s perceived breach of alliance protocol.
The absence of Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, leaders of the CPM and CPI respectively, coincided with their opposition to the candidature of top Congress figures Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal from Wayanad and Alappuzha constituencies in Kerala. The Left parties in Kerala have voiced their objections to Rahul’s candidacy in Wayanad, fearing it might confuse voters regarding the primary adversary in the region. Similarly, the decision to nominate Venugopal from Alappuzha, challenging a sitting CPM Member of Parliament, has elicited criticism from the Left, which views it as capitulation to state-level pressure within the Congress ranks.
Although the CPM and CPI leadership did not explicitly link their absence to the candidatures of the Congress leaders, internal sources suggest lingering concerns over alliance dynamics. Venugopal’s potential shift from his current Rajya Sabha seat in Rajasthan to a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala has also raised eyebrows within the Congress, with implications for party representation and potential consequences for the balance of power in the upper house of parliament.
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