Dissent against Kunhalikutty, Jamaat factor to be key

Kozhikode: The dissident activities in the IUML against its tallest leader P K Kunhalikutty and the campaign unleashed by Jamaat-e-Islami against the CPM will be the two decisive factors that will determine the outcome of the elections to the assembly in Malabar.
There is a groundswell of opposition in the IUML against Kunhalikutty who has resigned from Lok Sabha to contest for the assembly seat and he will be straining to justify the decision.Panakkad Syed Mueen Ali Shihab Thangal, who is the national vice-president of Muslim Youth League and the son of Hyder Ali Thangal, had openly expressed opposition to the decision.
Addressing E Ahmed commemoration meeting recently, party senior leader P V Abdul Wahab also indirectly spoke against Kunhalikutty. He said Ahmed did not return before completing the mission entrusted on him. Kunhalikutty is accused of leaving Delhi half-way through with an eye on the cabinet berth in Kerala. He contested the Lok Sabha elections after resigning from the assembly, saying a strong presence is needed in Delhi to fight fascism.
There is a group within the IUML which is working overtime to ensure Kunhalikutty’s defeat even though they know that it is an uphill task. The unfolding of the developments in this front will decide the fortunes of the IUML to a large extent.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami has stepped up the campaign against the CPM to evolve a Muslim consolidation against the party. The first signs of the nature of the campaign are seen in the latest issue of Prabodhanam magazine, which has a series of articles against communism in general and the CPM in particular.
Jamaat secretary Sheikh Muhammad Karakkunnu has released a series of Facebook posts against the CPM with the primary intention of branding the CPM as anti-Muslim. Though the Jamaat has a negligible force at the hustings, it can set the tone of the campaign for the elections.
The Jamaat will try to convince other Muslim organisations that the CPM’s tirade against the organisation is actually directed against Islam itself. Some Muslim organisations that are antagonistic to the Jamaat too are increasingly becoming irritated by the perceived ‘anti-Muslim’ utterances of the CPM leaders, especially state secretary A Vijayaraghavan.
The CPM will have to sweat it out to prove that it is not playing second fiddle to the Sangh Parivar if the Jamaat game plan succeeds. The Popular Front of India (PFI) has already stated that the CPM is trying to appease the Sangh Parivar by withdrawing the cases against the Sabarimala agitators. IUML will be beneficiary if such a Muslim consolidation takes place in Malabar ahead of the assembly polls.