A pointed observation by Rahul Gandhi equating the RSS and CPI(M) ideologically has opened fissures within the INDIA bloc, drawing sharp criticism from Left leaders who have termed the comments both divisive and ill-informed.
The Congress leader made the remarks at a memorial gathering in Kerala on Friday, stating that he fights both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the CPI(M) “in the realm of ideas and in the realm of speech,” while accusing them of lacking “feelings” for the people.
“I fight them in the realm of ideas and in the realm of speech. But, my biggest complaint is that they do not have feelings for the people,” he said, addressing the second death anniversary of former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in Kottayam. “If you are in politics, feel what people are thinking, listen to them, and touch them. The real tragedy in Indian politics today is that very few people are actually feeling what others are feeling.”
Left leaders within the opposition alliance took issue with the equivalence, cautioning that such rhetoric risks eroding grassroots unity between cadre groups and sending confusing signals to constituents.
CPI leader D Raja raised the matter during the bloc’s virtual strategy meeting on Saturday, without naming Gandhi directly, and reportedly urged restraint in making comparisons that pit alliance members against one another.
Another participant at the meeting reminded the gathering of the bloc’s founding objective — encapsulated in the phrase “Desh Bachaao, BJP Hataao” — and warned that intra-bloc friction undermines collective purpose.
CPI(M) politburo member MA Baby publicly criticised the remarks on Friday evening, calling them “unfortunate” and reflective of a poor grasp of political history. “The very fact that he in a way equated the CPI(M) and RSS betrays the absence of a correct understanding of the role of CPI(M) and RSS in Kerala or India,” he said in a video statement shared on social media platform X.
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He reminded Gandhi that the formation of the Congress-led UPA government in 2004 depended on Left support. “Rahul Gandhi only needs to recall how Manmohan Singh could not have formed a government in 2004 without the support of CPI(M) and other Left parties. Congress did not command a majority in Lok Sabha after the 2004 election,” Baby said.
Baby also took a swipe at Gandhi’s recent electoral strategy, noting that in Wayanad he fought against a CPI candidate — Annie Raja — rather than the BJP or RSS. “I hope and wish that he would be more serious while speaking against CPI(M),” he added.
Gandhi vacated the Wayanad seat after winning from Rae Bareli in the recent Lok Sabha polls, with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra securing Wayanad in the ensuing by-election.
“While we make independent criticisms,” Baby added, “we never equate the Congress with the BJP or RSS. So, it was quite unfortunate that, in a very casual and sweeping manner, Rahul Gandhi put CPI(M) and RSS together as his ideological enemies.”
The episode has underscored the uneasy coexistence between Congress and the Left parties within the INDIA bloc, particularly in Kerala, where the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front remain principal adversaries.
The virtual meeting also saw INDIA bloc constituents resolve to raise several issues in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, including the Pahalgam terror attack and the alleged threat to voting rights in Bihar due to a special revision of electoral rolls.
The bloc is planning a protest march to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar between 23 and 24 July over the Bihar voter list revision issue. Details of the mobilisation are currently being finalised, according to sources present at the meet.
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