Ahead of the state bypolls, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan targeted the Congress, alleging that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is contesting the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat with backing from Jamaat-e-Islami. He claimed that the organisation holds an approach that "does not favour a democratic system."

Addressing a campaign event for the CPI (M)-led Left front’s Wayanad candidate, Sathyan Mokeri, in Kalpetta, Vijayan said, “Priyanka Gandhi is contesting with the support of Jamaat-e-Islami. What is the stand of the Congress in this regard? Our country is not unfamiliar with Jamaat-e-Islami. Its adopted approach is not in favour of a democratic system… They do not see the democratic system as important. For Jamaat-e-Islami, Islamic rule around the world is what is important. They stand for an Islamic regime.”

The Wayanad bypoll, scheduled for November 13, was prompted by Rahul Gandhi’s decision to vacate the seat and retain Rae Bareli, one of the two constituencies he won in the April parliamentary elections. Speaking at a campaign event on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that Jamaat-e-Islami Hind’s political arm, the Welfare Party of India (WPI), acts as a “shield” for the organisation. Earlier this week, the WPI announced its support for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the upcoming bypolls in Kerala.

Vijayan, a CPI(M) Politburo member, also referred to Jamaat-e-Islami in Jammu and Kashmir, distinguishing it from Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, which operates in other parts of India, including Kerala. He pointed out that the Jamaat-e-Islami group in Jammu and Kashmir is banned under the UAPA. According to Vijayan, this group has historically opposed elections but supported the BJP in the recent Assembly polls in the Union Territory.

“This time, they decided to contest in a few seats and finally, they concentrated on the seat where CPI(M) leader Tarigami is contesting. What is the reason? Tarigami should be defeated. BJP and extremists also desired that,” Vijayan claimed. Several Jamaat-backed Independents had contested the J&K elections.

“Sometimes, the Jamaat-e-Islami here (in Kerala) say that they are different from the one in J&K. But Jamaat has only one policy, which is the establishment of an Islamic world. They do not accept any type of democratic governance system. That is their ideology, and now they want to help the UDF (the Congress-led Opposition alliance in Kerala)… Through Jamaat-e-Islami, an extremist section is trying to gain influence in the Indian Union Muslim League (a UDF constituent),” he said.

Reacting to Vijayan’s remarks, the Kerala president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, P Mujeeb Rahman, asked the CM to “explain why and when he changed his approach towards the organisation”.

“In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Jamaat had supported the CPI(M) in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Rajasthan. Why did the CPI(M) not reject our support? In Kerala, we have been supporting the CPI (M) in all elections since 2004. Till 2020, the CPI (M) ruled several local bodies with the support of the Welfare Party of India,” Rahman said. He said Vijayan was looking for “a consolidation of majority vote banks”.