Latest news with #M.Swaraj
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Nilambur byelection evolves into a high-profile four-cornered electoral battle
The byelection to elect a legislator to represent the Nilambur Assembly constituency in the Malappuram district, with barely seven months remaining in the incumbent Left Democratic Front (LDF) government's term, evolved into a high-profile four-cornered electoral battle on Sunday (June 1, 2025). Political theatre, last-minute switching of sides, and the entry of unexpected candidates marked the hectic day, with the Election Commission's last date for filing nominations expiring on Monday (June 2). The LDF and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) had put their cards on the table last week by fielding Communist Party of India (Marxist) State committee member M. Swaraj and Congress leader Aryadan Shoukath as their candidates, respectively. The two-term LDF-backed Independent MLA from Nilambur and the present All India Trinamool Congress State convenor, P.V. Anvar, whose acrimonious parting of ways with the ruling front precipitated the byelection, declared his candidature in the bypoll. Mr. Anvar had attempted to tag the Trinamool with the Congress-led UDF since joining West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party in January. Aspiring for a berth in the Opposition alliance, Mr. Anvar initially ruled out contesting the bypoll. He became a fixture at UDF rallies, playing the role of an LDF insider-turned whistleblower against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. However, M. Anvar's relationship with the UDF soured at the last minute after he aired scepticism about Mr. Shaukath's winnability. Earlier, he had discomfited the UDF leadership by attempting to influence candidate selection by prematurely backing V. Joy, a local Congress leader from the Christian settler farmer community, a significant electoral bloc in the Nilambur Assembly constituency. Mr. Anvar singled out the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, for not billeting him in the UDF. The UDF denied speculation that Mr. Anvar's candidature had injected a measure of variability into the electoral calculus of the Opposition. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which initially viewed the bypoll as insignificant, belatedly changed tack and fielded Mohan George, a Kerala Congress leader aligned with the UDF, as its candidate in Nilambur. The BJP recognised it could ill-afford to remain on the sidelines in an arguably pivotal byelection, widely regarded as an approximate bellwether of Kerala's voting behaviour ahead of the 2026 Assembly election. The LDF weaponised Mr. George's 'shift in allegiance' to push its electoral talking point in the predominantly Muslim Nilambur constituency, stating that the UDF leaders' secular credentials were suspect and that they were increasingly vulnerable to poaching by the BJP.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
M. Swaraj's anti-war post stirs up debate
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader M. Swaraj's social media post against war-mongering following the retaliatory strikes by the Indian armed forces stirred up a debate with a handful of left-leaning profiles directing thinly-veiled criticism at him. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, in which he referred to some anti-war passages from M. Mukundan's book Delhi Gadhakal, Mr. Swaraj said that the airwaves are filled with the war mongering of people who do not stand to be personally affected by the ravages of war. 'Our country is on the verge of a war today. It is now being reported that the Indian Army has destroyed terrorist camps in Pakistan in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. Pakistan is a country that is criticised for cross-border terrorism. It should be able to learn from the backlash against the Pahalgam terror attack. The Pakistan army has started shelling on the border, raising fears of a war. War mongers are shouting on news channels and social media. For some, war is a celebration that happens on the border as long as a missile does not destroy their own house. Let time correct those who enjoy war until their own children are killed,' wrote Mr. Swaraj, State secretariat member of the CPI(M). He further wrote that the first to suffer in any war are the ordinary people and called for humane movements against terrorism and war. In a followup Facebook post on Thursday, Mr. Swaraj addressed the criticisms and said that he would stand firmly on his opinions without changing a word. He directed his arguments pointedly at the few left-leaning persons who critiqued his post. 'These handful of leftists argue about the Soviet Union's fight against the Nazis seem to have forgotten the Soviet efforts to avoid war or the non-aggression pact. When they were finally attacked, and it was clear that there was no other way but war, the Soviet Union entered the war. Immediately after defeating Hitler, Stalin and the Soviet Union took the initiative not to conquer other countries with a warlike spirit, but to build a world peace movement. That is how the World Peace Council (WPC) came into being. A peace movement called AIPSO, which is also part of the World Peace Council, is still active in India,' he said. Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil accused Mr. Swaraj of double standards in not seeing the violence unleashed by his own partymen against Congress workers in Kannur even at a time when the nation was facing a tense situation at the border. 'While you appear to be concerned about the houses destroyed in India's missile strikes in Pakistan, your partymen attacked the house of Youth Congress mandalam secretary Saneesh P.R. today. M. Swaraj, who never once condemned Pakistan's terrorist acts against India and only becomes a messenger of peace when India's inevitable retaliation occured, should occasionally convey this message of peace to the terrorists in his own party,' wrote Mr. Mamkootathil in a Facebook post.
