Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The electoral alliance struck by the CPI(M) with the PDP-led by Abdul Nasser Madani in Ponnani Lok Sabha seat is promising to be a hotly debated topic during the run-up to the polls with CPI, another LDF partner branding Madani's outfit as "communal".

The Congress-led UDF has already seized on it, arguing that the CPI(M), especially its faction led by powerful state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, is ready to "sacrifice ideology and secular credentials of the party for the sake of few votes".

After a tug-of-war with CPI over the issue of Ponnani constituency, a seat claimed by the both parties, the CPI (M) has roped in PDP and decided to field a common independent candidate, Prof Hussein Randathani, to humble the Indian Union Muslim League in the Muslim dominated seat.

The move has come under severe criticism from the party's close allies like the CPI and RSP, which are critical about the fallout of the tie with a party like PDP seen by many as a hardline force.

Ironically, hours after CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan said in New Delhi on Saturday that his party still considered PDP as a "communal party", Vijayan and Madani appeared on the platform and heaped praises on each other.