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Choosing friends carefully

With the Communist Party of India opposing the entry of the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) into the Left Democratic Front, the breakaway Congress group will have to face the possibility of being forced to float a third front in Kerala's polarised political arena. The LDF is yet to take a final decision on this issue, but the signs of hostility within the front should make the DIC(K) wary of putting all its eggs in one basket. The DIC(K) entered into informal seat adjustments with the LDF for the local body polls; it also supported the CPI in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha by-election. But the truth is that the LDF does not really need the support of the DIC(K). In the prevailing political situation, the LDF is poised to return to power with a substantial majority. Other than increasing its victory margin, the DIC(K) will make no difference to the LDF. The smaller partners of the LDF thus have some cause for worry: the admission of the DIC(K) into the front could reduce their share of Assembly seats without any tangible benefits in return. Moreover, a three-cornered contest will help the LDF almost as much as an alliance with the DIC(K), which can be expected to eat into the UDF's vote share.

But the CPI, and another constituent, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, have more substantive reasons for resisting attempts to include the DIC(K) in the LDF. Over the years, the LDF has developed into a cohesive unit with a distinct Left orientation. By including a breakaway group that only a few months ago was part of the rival front, the LDF might only be contributing to the blurring of the ideological divide. Also, an outfit such as the DIC(K), which walked out of the Congress following a factional conflict, could just as easily return to the parent party. After all, in the early 1980s, the Congress faction led by A.K. Antony was a constituent of the LDF. Within a couple of years of winning the election in the company of the Left parties, Mr. Antony merged his organisation with the Congress, bringing down the LDF Government in the process. More than 20 years later, it is a comparable situation with Mr. Karunakaran and Mr. Antony exchanging places. Not surprisingly, some of the LDF constituents believe Mr. Karunakaran will return to the Congress at the first available opportunity and walk away, as did Mr. Antony, with MLAs who had won the election with Left support. Although the United Democratic Front accepted into its fold leaders such as M.V. Raghavan and K.R. Gowri, who left the Communist Party of India (Marxist), this is not reason enough for the LDF to emulate it. In the short term, the Left has very little to gain by accommodating the DIC(K). And over the long haul, such a move could be counterproductive.

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