Kerala bypolls: Welfare Party throws weight behind UDF

Malappuram: The Welfare Party of India, the political wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, has extended its support to the UDF in the upcoming bypolls in the state. The party's state committee requested its followers to vote against the BJP and the LDF in the Wayanad, Palakkad and Chelakkara constituencies.

WPI state president Rasaq Paleri criticised the NDA and LDF governments over their policies affecting the people's lives. "The LDF, especially the CPM, has created a favourable situation for the Sangh Parivar to use Kerala Police as they wish. The CPM is attempting to benefit from the communal tensions post the Lok Sabha debacle and the erosion of votes in their strongholds,” Rasaq Paleri said.

WPI has allied with the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in various local bodies in the Malappuram district. The party reiterated the possibility of their alliance with the UDF in the local body elections next year. "We will only decide about the alliances in the local body at the time of the election. At present, there are no issues with the existing political alliances. The party has decided to strongly oppose LDF and NDA over their anti-people and anti-communal policies,” said Arif Chundayil, WPI Malappuram district secretary.

WPI has allied with the UDF since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. They were part of LDF till the 2016 assembly elections.