The BJP believes that with the tie-up firmly in place – talks between the BJP and the SNDP on seat adjustments for the November local bodies elections are already on – its long-standing dream of a third front is now close to realization. The party would also have us believe that it has taken a decisive step towards realization of the larger goal of unity of the Hindu community languishing under the callous neglect of the Congress-led UDF government.

But the million dollar question is: Is the euphoria over the tie-up warranted? The situation at the ground-level tells a different tale.

Opinion, however, is divided on the fructification of the BJP’s game-plan for Kerala. There is a school of thought that opines that the alliance would collapse under the weight of internal contradictions. The contention: it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the BJP and the SNDP to ensure long-term peaceful co-existence given the yawning gap between the philosophies which animate the two organizations.

For instance, the SNDP is a vociferous votary of caste-based reservation. On the other hand, the RSS, which controls the BJP strongly advocates the abolition of the reservation policy and a second look at the need for the very continuance of it. True, the Prime Minister has reassured the SNDP boss by ruling out any change in the reservation policy. But the assurance is nothing but an exercise in political chicanery to fructify the BJP’s immediate goal of firming up its foothold on Kerala’s political soil.

Moreover, the teachings of the founder of the SNDP, Sree Narayana Guru, are at odds with the majoritarian exclusivism assiduously propagated by the RSS-BJP combine. The Guru preached an inclusivist ethos noted for its all-embracing humanism. He was firmly against casteism and hegemony of a particular community or religion. This militates against the RSS stance, which puts a premium on upper-caste domination and strengthening of hardcore Hindutva.

Significantly, it is this basic contradiction that the CPI(M), badly rattled by the SNDP’s hop on to the BJP bandwagon, is leveraging to arrest the large-scale exodus from the party to the BJP camp in Kerala.

As part of its strategy, the CPI(M) has decided - a politically astute decision at that - to highlight Narayana Guru’s teachings and in its hoardings and posters in the local bodies election battle besides the betrayal by the SNDP leadership of the organization’s founder. This strategy, more than anything else, could dent the newly-acquired confidence of the SNDP leadership. Also, it is not as if a mere call from the SNDP chief would impel the SNDP members to vote en bloc for the BJP. The ranks of the SNDP boast of people who subscribe to different political philosophies. It is also a fact that Ezhavas are traditionally known for their left leaning political stance. And it will be an uphill task for Vellappally to propel them to make a beeline for the BJP camp en masse.

Having said that, it must be admitted an utterly undesirable corollary of the BJP-SNDP truck would be accentuation of the process of communalization of Kerala’s hitherto-secular polity.

Ironically, it is the policy of the Congress, heading the United Democratic Front(UDF) Government in the State which is speeding up the saffron spread in the state. The more the Congress appeases the minorities, the faster will be the saffron surge. A saving grace is that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V. M. Sudheeran has woken up to the danger. But a section within the Congress led by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is tight-lipped about the SNDP-BJP tie-up. The CM’s camp thinks the emergence of a third front will benefit the UDF in that it would simultaneously weaken the CPI(M) and hasten the rallying of the minorities firmly behind the Congress-led UDF, resulting in handsome electoral gains for the latter. (IPA Service)