“Man who gets battered by a ruffian, comes home and attacks his mother?, goes a Malayalam saying. Similarly rattled at the news against himself and the CPM, emulating from the mainstream Malayalam newspapers, CPM state secretary has blamed a media syndicate funded by CIA, of planting anti-CPM news, for eventual toppling of the LDF regime. When Nehru dismissed the EMS Ministry of 1957, which was the first elected communist government in the whole world, there were talks that the ?liberation struggle? and Nehru'saction was the handiwork of CIA.
For almost a decade, two groups owing allegiance to V.S. Atchudanandan and the Kannur lobby consisting of Nayanar Pinarayi Vijayan have been existent in the party. The drama prior to elections like Pinarayi's?Kerala March? to catapult him to the CM'schair, the defeat of entire V.S'spanel in elections to the state committee, the virtual control of party by Pinarayi, denial of seats to V.S. and later allotting him the Malampuzha seat due to mass public ire and diktat of the P.B. and later after polls, attempt to deny chief ministership to V.S. packing his ministry with Pinarayi supporters, the luxurious refurbishments of houses by ministers, the Self-Financing Act fiasco by M.A. Baby, dual opinion on taking ADB loan, CBI probe into SNC-Lavalin scam by Pinarayi etc. have deeply eroded the credibility of the CPM and its secretary. Moreover Pinarayi'sblunder in carrying bullets on a TVM-Chennai-Delhi flight has made the CPM and its state secretary the laughing stock of the public.
Hiding all these, Pinarayi is blaming a select group of journalists of the mainstream papers Malayala Manorama, Matrubhoomi, Kerala Kaumudi and Madyamam (which together have a circulation of 30 lakh copies and comprise 90 per cent of readership) of having formed a ?media syndicate?, which he claims is funded by CIA. He says this syndicate is using K.M. Shajahan, (former secretary to V.S., who was expelled from the CPM for giving news of the Malappuram CPM state committee meeting proceedings to the media) as their source. Two other CPM journalists G. Shakthidharan and Sugathan, who were expelled from the CPM, and who are now running the Pro-V.S. weekly Janashakti, have also been named by Pinarayi.
Meanwhile, Berlin Kunhananthan Nair, a senior journalist, who was also expelled from the CPM for his pro-V.S. stance has said that two ?media syndicates? exist in the state. One is led by K.M. Shajahan, G. Shakthidharan and Sugathan who give anti-Pinarayi news to mainstream newspapers. The next is led by Deshabhimani (a CPM newspaper) and CPM HQ AKG Centre. This gives anti-V.S. news to media. The Christian paper Deepika has been bought by Haris, a Pinarayi man, and in a short period, 200 articles against V.S. have been published in it. He said CPM is in the grip of severe groupism and is collapsing.
When questioned in the Assembly, Chief Minister V.S. was noncommittal of the existence of a media syndicate. He said any information received of it will be passed on to the Centre, since it undermines country'sinternational relations. But he said, a section of the media is targeting him, his family, his style of functioning etc. but he has thrown them with contempt like a dirty piece of rag.
Meanwhile, in a bid to regain his lost image in the face of the bullet fiasco, Poomoodal controversy, SNC-Lavalin CBI probe, Pinarayi has started wooing the upper echelons of society like industrialists, businessmen, community leaders, professionals like doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, advocates etc., by inviting them for lunch, dinners etc. and presenting his point of view. He says he is victimized by media and opponents. Pinarayi had undertaken such a PR exercise during the ?Kerala March? but V.S. went away with the chair. Let us see who wins the round now. CPM or CIA!
