Kerala did much better than other states in terms of a rational and effective response to covid.

This was a narrative, but not necessarily true?

Early 2020: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-53431672

Late 2020: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/compelling-que...

The failure narrative is not necessarily true either. Are we to trust British state propaganda of all things?

I never claimed it was false. I said it’s not entirely true. I think like most states, Kerala has a lot of misplaced pride, and fail to see that their politicians are similarly problematic. Just like the common criticism of BJP, they too neglected COVID policies during voting periods.

By pretty much any metric Kerala handled the pandemic better than other states. It’s worth looking at the material interests behind narratives. British imperialism (as export of capital at usury rates) is still heavily invested in India and communists winning in other states would threaten profits.

The CPI (M) can hardly be compared to the BJP, they’re complete opposites.

Nobody is saying the metrics are identical, nor the parties. I’m saying that politicians are fallible, and commit similar injustices to their citizens. I believe it’s crucial to have a nuanced discussion where any side is criticized for their shortcomings.

From the Hindu, a decidedly anti-BJP, left news org: “Political exigencies also led the government to deliberately delay conducting a serosurveillance study till local body poll results were out”.

It still looks to me like comparing minor flaws to active state oppression and neglect. “Both sides” arguments imply some sort of equivalence which the outcomes don’t support in this case.

> British imperialism (as export of capital at usury rates) is still heavily invested in India and communists winning in other states would threaten profits.

What?

Which bit is confusing?

Imperialism as a stage of capitalism is alive and well. Rich countries remain rich by extracting wealth from poor countries, generally in the form of exporting capital to exploit cheap labour.

Communists are anti-imperialists and if elected in all of India would fight against British (and US and Western European) exploitation. The British state propaganda arm would of course be opposed to communists in India, so as to not threaten the profits of the British ruling class.