Senior RSS leader J Nandakumar said on Wednesday if the Left Front loses in Tripura, it would have a serious bearing on the CPM. The national convener of the RSS-affiliate Prajna Pravah also argued that political killings in Kerala was not just a CPM versus Sangh struggle, since the Left Front was targeting every political party there to limit their growth. Excerpts from an interview:

Some exit polls have shown that the BJP has an edge in Tripura, which is a CPM stronghold. What do you think?

Such an outcome will have serious bearing on the CPM. The communist party’s status of a national party is because of its domination in three states — Kerala, Tripura and West Bengal. The CPM has already been marginalised in Bengal, and a loss in Tripura will limit it to just one state. That is a big ideological achievement. The BJP and the RSS have worked hard over many years to expose the CPM’s misrule in these states.

Will it also have bearing on the ongoing conflict between the CPM and the RSS in Kerala?

It’s not only a Left versus RSS battle in Kerala. The CPM is targeting every political party, and several Congress workers have been killed under its rule. It is Left versus all in Kerala. Violence as tool for expansion is part of the CPM’s ideology. Since it is losing political relevance, the aggression has increased.

How is your response to allegation that RSS workers, too, have resorted to retaliatory tactics in Kerala?

We believe in democratic values and peaceful way of protest. Besides Kerala, the RSS has a strong base in many other states, but the Sangh has never adopted the path of aggression. It is in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura where targeted political killings are happening. And the only common factor is the CPM.