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

Abstract 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.