The differences between the CPM and the CPI over the relevance of the Congress in building a viable national alternative to the BJP has come out in the open with the two allies taking diverse positions in Kerala.

While the CPI has adopted the version of its Rajya Sabha member and national secretariat member Binoy Viswam that the Left alone can’t be an alternative at the Centre if the Congress fails, Kerala CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has countered this point of view by saying a non-BJP national alternative won’t be possible by depending on the Congress alone.

“A national alternative cannot be formed by depending solely on the Congress,” Balakrishnan told reporters in Kumili, Idukki, on Tuesday.

“The most important task is to defeat the BJP, and regional parties have to play a decisive role to achieve that. Speaking in favour of the Congress in Kerala won’t help the Left, especially with the Thrikkakara bypoll round the corner,” Balakrishnan said.

The CPM-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-helmed United Democratic Front will soon face off in the Thrikkakara Assembly constituency in Ernakulam district. The seat fell vacant when Congress lawmaker P.T. Thomas passed away last week.

It was a recent statement by Viswam that the Left parties would not be able to fill the vacuum if the Congress was wiped out at the national level that triggered the argument between the alliance partners.

“We the Leftists are aware of the void that would be created if the Congress collapses before the BJP and RSS outfits. I am of the view that the Congress should not be weakened to avoid such a situation,” he had said at a condolence meeting for Thomas in Ernakulam on Sunday.

Those in attendance at the event were senior Congress leaders such as leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan, state unit president K. Sudhakaran, former chief minister Oommen Chandy and senior leader and MLA Ramesh Chennithala.

The CPI’s Malayalam mouthpiece, the Janayugom daily, on Tuesday said Viswam’s statement was the party’s stand, that a non-BJP alternative would not be possible without the Congress.

Kerala CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran had on Monday backed Viswam’s position. “The BJP is strong in most states and the Left parties might not be able to take the place of the Congress if it (the Congress) is weakened,” Rajendran had said.

He went on to add that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s recent statement that only the Left can form a national alternative along with regional parties was the CPM’s view.

Unlike the CPI, CPM leaders have been vehemently opposed to any truck with the Congress. Vijayan had in December urged regional parties to join hands ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls.

“The Congress claims to be a secular party but follows a policy of communal appeasement. The Congress and the BJP follow similar economic policies. Hence, the Congress cannot be a viable alternative to the BJP,” Vijayan had told the CPM’s Ernakulam district committee meeting.

The CPI’s position on the Congress found favour with Cherian Philip who in October 2020 returned to the Congress, ending his two-decade association with the CPM where he was not a member.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday he recalled how the Congress and the CPI were partners in Kerala where the Congress-led United Front bucked the post-Emergency national trend by winning 111 Assembly seats and all 20 Lok Sabha seats in 1977.

“The United Front should be revived in Kerala. It is the alliance of the Congress, CPI and the Kerala Congress factions (regional parties) that achieved massive development in Kerala,” Philip said.