The selection of candidates by the CPI(M) for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to take on Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) veterans E.T. Mohammed Basheer and M.P. Abdussamad Samadani in Malappuram and Ponnani respectively raises questions whether the CPI(M) is cosying up to the IUML.
Among the 15 seats the CPI(M) is contesting, the party seems to have fielded the weakest candidates in Ponnani and Malappuram. When candidates with hardly any electoral experience are fielded against the IUML, all the other candidates of the CPI(M) are politicians of considerable experience. One of them is a Minister, another a Polit Bureau member, and three others are CPI(M)’s district secretaries.
Democratic Youth Federation of India State president V. Waseef, who is pitted against Mr. Basheer in Malappuram, and former IUML leader K.S. Hamza, who takes on Mr. Samadani in Ponnani, are considered the weakest among the 15. Mr. Waseef, a first-timer, is no match for Mr. Basheer, who has nearly four decades of legislatorial experience. Mr. Basheer had reached the Assembly four times, during which he became a Minister twice, and the Lok Sabha three times.
