The optimism exuded by Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the BJP won’t even get to finish second in any of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the state has given a fresh dimension to the barbs exchanged by the rival alliances, with the Congress alleging a secret electoral understanding between the CPM and the BJP.

In Alappuzha on Saturday, Vijayan told the media that the BJP won’t make any headway in Kerala, a statement contradicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s confidence of winning in double digits in the state.

Though a few state BJP leaders privately admit that a double-digit win would be a far cry, there’s fear among Congress leaders about an undercurrent working in the BJP’s favour in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur.

While Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is challenging Shashi Tharoor, who is trying his electoral luck for a fourth straight term in Thiruvananthapuram, actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi is the BJP’s trump card in Thrissur, where he is locked in a triangular contest with V.S. Sunil Kumar of the CPI and K. Muraleedharan of the Congress.

The acting president of the state Congress unit, M.M. Hassan, had little doubts about an “understanding” between the CPM and the BJP by “threatening” Vijayan and his daughter Veena Vijayan on alleged corruption issues.

“The reason behind the BJP’s hope of winning these two seats is because of this nexus. They have managed to scare Pinarayi with the Lavalin case and the payoff case involving his daughter,” Hassan told The Telegraph.

On its part, the CPM has been pointing fingers at the defections of Congress leaders to the BJP camp across the country.

In charge of the state party unit since president K. Sudhakaran is contesting from the Kannur seat, Hassan was alluding to the SNC-Lavalin corruption case in which Vijayan has been acquitted but an appeal is pending before the Supreme Court that adjourned the hearing 36 times since 2017. The apex court has now listed the matter for final hearing on May 1.

Vijayan was accused of colluding with a few officers to award a contract to the Canadian company, SNC-Lavalin, to renovate three hydroelectric projects when he was the energy minister between 1996 and 1998. In return, he allegedly got the company to provide a grant to build a cancer centre in his constituency.

The Enforcement Directorate recently registered a case against Veena and her now-defunct Bengaluru-based IT firm, Exalogic Solutions, of an alleged Rs 1.72 crore payoff made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd. However, no services were rendered.

“He is the only non-BJP chief minister who is not scared of the ED. While Arvind Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar jail, our chief minister has no such worries,” Hassan said.

Hassan’s suspicion about the “nexus” grew when the CPI fielded candidates in Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur. “These two candidates are being made scapegoats to allow the BJP to win,” he said. Veteran CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran is the Left Democratic Front candidate in Thiruvananthapuram, while a more influential V.S. Sunil Kumar is fielded from Thrissur.

Hassan, however, doubts that the secular Malayali voters would back the BJP. “Come what may, the secular voters of Kerala will never allow the BJP to win,” he said.

Political analyst N.P. Chekutty had a similar fear of a possible BJP-CPM understanding. “There is a strong feeling that there is some underhand deal between Pinarayi and the BJP. But it would be difficult to prove since there is no concrete evidence,” he said.

The suspicion, he said, is fuelled by the fact stated by Hassan. “The delay in hearing the Lavalin case and ED not questioning Veena are the prime areas of doubt,” he said.