When Nehru Rebuked Russia But Welcomed US: How Kerala Became A Cold War Battleground In 1957
Kerala, long regarded as the bastion of communists in India, has often found itself at the crossroads of global intrigue. Even today, the state is governed by the Left, but its political landscape has, at times, drawn the attention of the most powerful nations across the globe.
In June this year, Kerala made headlines when a British F-35B fighter jet, grounded by bad weather, remained stuck for months. The incident attracted international curiosity, but it was not the first time this coastal state became the focus of global eyes. Decades earlier, during the height of the Cold War, Kerala was not just a political stronghold but a playground for international espionage.
In the 1950s and 1960s, both the Soviet Union and the United States maintained active spy networks in the region, quietly manoeuvring for influence. The state's strategic political shift in 1957 made it a flashpoint. That year, the Communist Party of India (CPI) won state elections, forming the first democratically elected communist government in the country, a move that stunned capitals from the US to the UK.
The West viewed this as a direct extension of Russia's influence into South Asia. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, though wary of Western fears, was equally concerned about foreign interference.
According to Indian Express archives, shortly after the CPI's victory, a senior communist leader sought to travel to Moscow to study governance under Soviet guidance. In April 1957, Intelligence Bureau chief BN Mullick alerted Nehru to the plan. The prime minister reacted sharply, summoning Soviet ambassador Alexander Menshikov and warning him against meddling in India's internal affairs.
Yet, while Nehru publicly cautioned Russia, Western intelligence agencies were quietly being courted. The CIA, alongside British intelligence, actively worked to undermine the Left government. Between 1957 and 1959, funds were allegedly funnelled through Congress leaders and anti-communist factions, sparking political unrest. By 1959, the CPI government was dismissed.
The US later accused the Soviets of funding Kerala's communists, while historians have pointed to possible covert cooperation between Nehru's administration and the CIA in the government's ouster. The episode left Kerala with a Cold War legacy, a land where ideological battles once played out on the world's stage, and where the fight for influence was waged not just in rallies and elections, but in the shadowy world of espionage.
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He semi-adopted a girl from Hyderabad, Lateef Fatima, who married one of his aides from Peshawar Meer Taj Mohammed Khan. The son from that marriage would go on to embody a syncretic India on the silver screen. His name is Shahrukh Khan. Sanjay Hegde is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of India.
