A leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Kerala is all set to join the CPI(M), the ruling party in the state. S Subhash Chand, a lawyer based in Kochi, is the Ernakulam district president of the right wing outfit. Chand has issued a press statement elaborating the reasons for joining the CPI(M). He has said that he has resigned from all the posts as he ideologically dissents with the Sangh Parivar outfits and that his resignation comes out of his belief that the strengthening of secular forces is the need of the hour.
Chand held the post of Central Government Council (CGC) lawyer representing the union government- at the Kerala High Court. He also held the post of Thripunithura President Thapasya (Vishwa Hindu Parishad People's Council for Social Justice).
The CPI(M) Ernakulam district committee has put out a statement on Facebook confirming the news with the full version of Subhash Chand’s statement.
"Secularism gets weakened as communalism grows. If that continues to affect the peace in the country, the country will become the graveyard of communal riots. It's the basic responsibility of every citizen to prevent this. I have decided to associate with the CPI(M) that works uncompromisingly for secularism but at the same time implements so many developmental projects for the progress of the ordinary people,” the statement further reads. It’s however not clear in what capacity the CPI(M) would accommodate him.
CPI(M) is at the helm of the ruling coalition- the Left Democratic Front- in the state. The LDF had a resounding victory in the Assembly elections held in April 2021 and came back to power. It won 99 out of the 140 seats with the CPI(M) winning 62 seats. The Congress-led United Democratic Front won in 47 constituencies while the BJP drew a blank. The BJP managed to win only once in the Kerala Assembly with O Rajagopal winning from Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram in 2016 elections.