After DMK boycott, CPM and JMM add to INDIA bloc strains

Fresh signs of discord emerged within the INDIA bloc ahead of its meeting on Monday, with CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby writing to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to strongly object to the Congress' campaign against the Left party in Kerala and its demand for ED action against former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

In his letter, Baby is learnt to have questioned how the Congress' stance towards the CPM could be reconciled with the INDIA bloc's stated objective of jointly taking on the BJP.

The CPM's intervention comes after the DMK announced its decision to boycott the INDIA bloc meeting. Another ally, the JMM, has also expressed displeasure over the Congress' 'unilateral' decision to announce its Rajya Sabha candidate in Jharkhand and has threatened to field a second nominee for the state's two Rajya Sabha seats.


Apart from Rahul Gandhi's attacks on the CPI(M) during the Kerala campaign, the Left parties are also understood to have reservations about any attempt by the INDIA bloc to rally behind Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee over post-poll violence in West Bengal.

"Unless these matters are clarified, the very purpose of the INDIA bloc would be in question," Baby said in his letter to Kharge.