Senior CPI leader and former minister C. Divakaran said on August 29 that the CPI is not bound to obey what Pinarayi Vijayan decides, as his statements have aggravated the dispute over the Deputy Legislature Party leadership. Divakaran’s remarks indicate that relations between the two communist ‘brothers’ are strained, with the dispute heading towards the flashpoint.
The CPI leader asked Keralam former CM Pinarayi Vijayan to rethink whether his policy of ‘you may quit if you want’ is good and wondered how an intolerant person could work as the leader of a Front. Pinarayi should not have said that he would decide the Deputy Leader.
Divakaran said that the CPM had leaders before Pinarayi took over. He should retrospect if his policy of ‘you may quit if you want’ suits his party’s tradition.
He said the CPI does not hold any discussion with former CM Pinarayi. They discuss with the CPM state committee. If there is no tolerance, how can Pinarayi accommodate the constituents of the LDF (CPM-led opposition Left Democratic Party)?
Divakaran claimed that his party knows how to run the LDF. Such a time is round the corner. CPM should be more decent, polite and respectful to other constituents. This sort of tough treatment towards the second-largest constituent is not acceptable. He made it clear that his party is not ready to step back in the Deputy Leadership issue. The party takes a stern stand for the rights it deserves.
Meanwhile, the Indian Union Muslim League has extended an olive branch to the CPI.
An article authored by Muslim League national vice president K.P.A. Majeed in Chandrika Malayalam daily, the mouthpiece of his party, says that CPI currently faces a difficult political climate. The article is titled “Right Wing CPM and The Existence of CPI”.
It refers to CPM’s ‘big brother’ attitude within the LDF. Majeed says that none, except CPM, will say that CPI is a servant.
The author says that CPM has pushed the CPI to the verandah. He asks if CPI is the servant bound to obey royal orders. CPI has got its own position in Kerala history. CPI held the position of the chief minister and scored the continuity of rule after two consecutive elections.
He was referring to the coalition government of Congress-CPI-Muslim League alliance from 1969 to 1977. The alliance was voted to power in 1970 and 1977.
The article claims that the Muslim League-Congress-CPI coalition rule led by chief minister C. Achuta Menon, senior CPI leader, (1969 to 1977) beefed up Kerala’s growth.
After joining hands with the CPM, CPI has not got chief ministership or deputy chief ministership. The positions of LDF chairman and convener are always held by the CPM, whether in power or not. It is like Master–Servant equation. A mere label cannot make a coalition a Left Front. Majeed expresses the hope that CPI understands it.
Another leader P.M.A. Salam remarked that CPI is currently suffering “scorched heat” and it is up to the party to decide whether it wants to come into the shade.
Political observers keep their fingers crossed to see if CPI goes back to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), for the first time after 1979.
