Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has launched a scathing attack on the Congress party following a significant political shift in the Mattathur grama panchayat located in Thrissur district. The controversy erupted after several elected Congress ward members resigned from the party to extend their support to a BJP-backed independent candidate. This move effectively ended over two decades of Left Democratic Front (LDF) administration in the local governing body.
A Pattern of Defection: Congress to BJP
In a series of pointed remarks made on social media, the Chief Minister alleged that Congress functionaries have transformed into individuals prepared to abandon their party at the slightest signal from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He stated that all Congress candidates who had successfully contested and become panchayat members in Mattathur switched their allegiance to the BJP, thereby seizing control of the local body. According to Vijayan, only eight Congress members now remain with the United Democratic Front (UDF) in that panchayat.
"BJP took everyone without leaving a single person behind. This is not a political situation familiar to Kerala," the Chief Minister asserted. He drew direct parallels between the events in Mattathur and similar large-scale defections witnessed in other parts of India. He specifically referenced the 2016 incident in Arunachal Pradesh, where 43 out of 44 Congress MLAs, including the chief minister, defected to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) overnight.
Historical Precedents of Political Shifts
Vijayan further cited the example of Puducherry in 2021, where the BJP, which initially had no legislative members, assumed power by persuading Congress members to join its side. He also mentioned the 2019 merger of the Congress legislative party in Goa with the BJP. The Chief Minister argued that the situation unfolding in Mattathur is a clear reflection of these earlier events.
"Congress leaders joined BJP to prevent an LDF president from coming to power in the panchayat and they admitted it openly," Vijayan claimed. He expressed strong conviction that the remaining Congress members in the area would not hesitate to become BJP members overnight if the situation demanded. "Congress members have no qualms about changing their symbol from the hand to the lotus," he alleged, highlighting a perceived lack of ideological commitment.
Accusations of a Secret Alliance
The Chief Minister went a step further by alleging that the actions in Mattathur were a direct execution of the Congress leadership's own declared willingness to switch to the BJP whenever convenient. He contended that the results of the recent local body elections across Kerala provide clear evidence of a covert "BJP-Congress adjustment" in numerous constituencies.
"Congress continues this practice without hesitation. Congress' willingness to sell itself fuels BJP's ambitions in Kerala," Vijayan charged. He concluded by stating that his party, the CPI(M), has consistently exposed what he describes as Congress's deceptive tactics, its engagement in opportunistic power politics, and its role in normalising the divisive agenda propagated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Chief Minister labelled the "Mattathur model" as the latest chapter in this ongoing political process.
