Left in Sabarimala: a time-marker in the political history of Kerala

The global reputation of the ‘Kerala model’ reflects a progressive dimension of the Indian state. However, discussions also involve its regressive aspects, particularly concerning caste and gender axes. Both progressive reformatory aspirations and regressive conservatism co-existed in Kerala’s public sphere. This wavelength was challenged by the Sabarimala verdict and subsequent conflict in 2018 – the gender question of accessing a male space was converted to a discourse of religious rights to worship. When the government decided to implement the apex court verdict, the Hindu right wing mobilised the emotions for Ayyappa, the perennial deity. Afterwards, the Left-led regime which was enthusiastic about progressive politics began to step back from challenging the Right-wing conservative forces. This argument is informed by a political analysis of various events after the conflict where the Left-led regime and Right-wing conservatives had a standoff. Such a scenario leads Kerala’s public sphere from a state of ‘dialectical unity’ towards a state of ‘missing dialectics’, which can challenge its secular fabric and communalise common sense. This note explicates what a linear narration of Kerala’s political history reveals about its contemporary state of politics.