Malappuram: An unlikely combination of political parties lined up against the CPM in a panchayat has put the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders on the defensive in the Lok Sabha bypoll.
The Vallikkunnu panchayat threw up a hung result in the local body polls held in November, 2015.
The panchayat, in the northern tip of Malappuram, has 23 wards. In the local body polls, the UDF won 11 seats, one short of majority.
The Left Democratic Front (LDF) won 10 seats and the BJP, two.
As per a tacit understanding, the IUML-Congress-backed Shobhana V.N. was elected president and Khyarunnisa K.M.P., vice-president. Both the seats are reserved for women.
The elevation of this strange combination of Congress-IUML and the BJP prompted cries of a 'Co-Le-B' alliance by the LDF.
This unusual situation has put the UDF and the BJP in a fix in the Lok Sabha polls as the local CPM leadership is raking up the issue of an unholy alliance.
The UDF and the BJP have no choice than to duck the issue here. This is not the first time a 'Co-Le-B' nexus is hogging headlines.
In the Vadakara Lok Sabha election in 1991, the alliance actually was stitched up informally even before polls.
Former advocate-general M. Ratna Singh contested as the Co-Le-B-backed candidate against K.P. Unnikrishnan.
To camouflage the unholy nexus, Singh contested as an independent. The nexus did not actually work out as Unnikrishnan won by a margin of over 17,000 votes, mainly due to resistance from cadres of the Congress and the IUML as well as the BJP. Incidentally, Ratna Singh, 92, passed away in March this year.
The CPM has always raked up the 'Co-Le-B' nexus to put the BJP and the UDF defensive in electoral battles.
