V.D. Satheesan says CPI(M) leader A.K. Balan’s Jamaat-e-Islami remarks ‘echo Hindu majoritarian narrative’

V.D. Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, criticized CPI(M) leader A.K. Balan for his statement that the Jamaat-e-Islami would control the Home department if the Congress-led UDF came to power, calling it a "bigoted" and divisive perspective. Satheesan compared this to the BJP's past claims about an Ahmed Patel becoming Chief Minister in Gujarat based on his Muslim identity. He accused the CPI(M) of backing the SNDP Yogam general secretary, Vellappally Natesan, who has a history of vilifying Muslims, and claimed that this shift towards Hindutva is destabilizing the LDF. The CPI(M) responded by branding Binoy Viswam, State Secretary of the CPI, as a traitor for criticizing Natesan's divisive politics.