The Left rebels are now in a piquant situation of having to prove that they are not soft on the Congress-led united democratic front.
The rebels, most of who came out of the CPI(M) accusing it of not being ‘radical’ enough and had set up the Revolutionary Marxist Party, are now desperately struggling to check erosion of their support base in their stronghold of Onchiyam and nearby areas.
Mr N. Venu, the party’s candidate in the Vadakara constituency, is trying hard to convince the voters that his party has no leniency towards the UDF.
Majority of the cadres of the rebel party are hardcore communists, who had fought against the Congress.
Though they had reluctantly helped the UDF candidate, Mr Mullapally Ramachandran in the Lok Sabha polls, for the sake of strategy, it would be difficult for them to sustain the pro-Congress attitude.
And many of them have a soft corner for the Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, who they believe is a true Marxist is fighting the official group in the CPI(M).
Interestingly, the rebel party is ruling the Onchiyam panchayat with the indirect support of the UDF.
But the rebels decided to dissociate with their leader, Mr M.R. Murali, in Palakkad when he sought the UDF support in the Assembly elections. It was a move to convince the party cadres about its anti-UDF stand apart from answering the CPI (M) charge that the rebels have become a tool in the hands of the Congress.
Vadakara has always been the stronghold of the Left. Mr M.K. Premnath of the Janata Dal (S) won the seat last time for the LDF. Mr Premnath is now the UDF candidate after the split in the party and Mr C.K. Nanu of the JD (S) is taking on his former comrade.
But the outcome of the election will be largely decided by the votes garnered by the Revolutionary Marxist Party.