The CPM has shifted its focus fully on minority communities' issues during the election campaign to cover up its governance failure, Congress leader and former MLA K S Sabarinadhan said. The Congress leader is of the view that minorities do not need a protector but a partner whom they can trust.

He said the minority communities are aware that the CPM is playing politics with them. He made the arguments in Onmanorama’s ‘What’s Your Point?’ interview series.

Sabarinadhan, former Aruvikkara MLA and son of late Congress stalwart G Karthikeyan repeated the Congress’ long-pending charge that the CPM and the BJP have an unholy electoral understanding in Kerala. He, however, admitted that Congress has not been able to convince the people about it effectively.

“The CPM has been funnelling all their energy into a single cause of being the minority protector. Minorities don’t need a protector here. They need someone who understands their problems and whom they can trust. If you look at the national politics Congress is the only party the minorities can trust. The CPM has no say in national politics, but to get votes Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself is leading the whole drama around minority issues. Minorities know that the CPM is playing politics with them. The communities clearly know that they don’t need the Left Big Brother to help or guide or protect them. The partnership works well with Congress,” he said.

Explaining the Congress allegation about the nexus between the CPM and the BJP Sabarinadhan said: “If the CPM has to grow, it has to harp on the divisive agenda of the BJP. If the BJP has to grow, it has to divide the people. The only neutral face that fights both these parties is Congress. So the Left wants the villainous BJP on one side so that they can play the protector of the minorities. The BJP on the other side would want to continue their divisive politics so that more people gain traction towards it. If Congress gets wiped out the Congress votes might get split between the two parties. Congress is the common irritant in their places. However, we have not been able to convincingly communicate it to the people. From a non-political point of view, it’s tough for a person to digest that, but it’s the fact,” he said.

Asked about reports of Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor facing a tough challenge from BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar in Thiruvananthapuram constituency this time, Sabarinadhan said the BJP candidate’s money power was something difficult to fight with. He, however, exuded confidence that Tharoor will emerge winner again, riding on his political and personal clout.

“All elections in Thiruvananthapuram have been tough especially since the BJP has emerged a strong player in the constituency. Tharoor’s toughest election was in 2014 when all kinds of allegations were thrown at him. The money power of Rajeev Chandrasekhar is something we cannot fight with,” he said.

Sabarinadhan said Rajeev has lost the momentum he gained initially with the controversy over the income tax details he furnished in his nomination papers.

“Rajeev has admitted in many interviews that he has a net worth of more than Rs 9,000 crore. The very fact that he had paid a paltry tax of Rs 680 in 2021-22 is something which clearly shows what the person is all about. BJP always talks about nation-building. If you ask me, the most important part of nation-building is the proper payment of income tax. So a person who tries all means to subvert his accounts doesn’t participate in nation-building. A Technopark employee with five years of experience is paying as tax five times the amount Rajeeve pays is something difficult for a person like me to digest,” Sabarinadhan said.