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Kerala / The New Indian Express

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Welfare Party alliance heating up poll campaign

KOZHIKODE: The Welfare Party of India, the political front of the Jamaat-e-Islami, is not a force to reckon with in Kerala politics. Yet, the party has become the focal point of discussion in the local body election campaign. The CPM is marshalling all its resources to put the UDF on the defensive for aligning with the propagators of Islamic State ideology. On its part, the UDF has been reluctant to openly admit the alliance and claims that the front has only local-level understanding with the Welfare Party. The Jamaat had supported the LDF for a long time, a fact that the CPM is conveniently trying to hush up. Jamaat began moving towards the UDF mainly after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since then, the Welfare Party has been functioning almost as a constituent of the UDF though not officially declared so. The Jamaat, which has strongly criticised the IUML in the past, also developed a cozy relationship with the party. The formation of the Muslim Coordination Committee during agitations against the CAA brought them closer. Members of the Panakkad family, who kept a distance from the Jamaat in the past, started attending the programmes of the organisation. IUML leaders K M Shaji and M K Muneer, who had vehemently opposed the Jamaat ideology, became silent. The rise of the BJP at the national level also served to cement the relationship between the two organisations. By no means was it a smooth transition. There was strong opposition from Muslim organisations which considered the Jamaat a dangerous presence for the community. The Sunnis and the Mujahids raised their concerns over the IUML coming closer to the Jamaat. Their opposition was more religious than political. This time too, voices have emerged from the community against the Jamaat. Some leaders of the EK faction of the Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama cautioned the UDF against joining hands with the Jamaat. The Kanthapuram faction also came up with objections. Some Mujahid groups met the Congress leaders as well, to express their concern over giving a clean chit to the Jamaat. But the situation this time is a bit different. While the opposition against the Jamaat was united in the past, now some sections among Muslim organisations suspect that the CPM is drawing political mileage from the anti-Jamaat position. This feeling is reflected in the words of EK faction Sunni leader Nasar Faizi Koodathayi who wrote on Facebook on Wednesday that many of those who are currently criticising the Jamaat are actually serving the CPM interest. This is seen as an indirect reply to Abdul Hameed Faizi, Umar Faizi Mukkam and Musthafa Mundupara belonging to the same Sunni group who opposed the Jamaat alliance. The split in the anti-Jamaat camp also gave the IUML the confidence to go ahead with the alliance. The UDF camp is busy digging up materials from the past to prove that the CPM and Jamaat were bosom friends. They circulate the photograph of the LDF MLA K T Jaleel visiting the Jamaat headquarters after he defeated P K Kunhalikutty in Kuttippuram in 2006. The pro-Jamaat groups on social media are unearthing photographs where CPM leaders are seen with Jamaat leaders. Meanwhile, the CPM is hoping that the Jamaat-UDF alliance will antagonise Hindu and Christian sections, which will be beneficial for the party in southern Kerala. And not everyone in the Congress is happy with the tie-up and those sections may wait for the local body poll results to react.

27 Nov 2025 7:54 am