Row within LDF in Keralam: CPI, CPI(M) question each other’s legacy as IUML sends feelers to CPI

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(left) CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam and CPI(M) State secretariat member C.N. Mohanan

As the skirmish between the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)], the two major partners of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Keralam, over the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly continues unabated, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has put out feelers to the CPI, characterising it as representing true Communist ideals and being forced to play second fiddle to the CPI(M) within the alliance.

In an article in the party mouthpiece Chandrika , K.P.A. Majeed, national vice-president of the IUML, extolled the virtues of the CPI, sympathising with its “plight of being made subservient to the CPI(M)”. Mr. Majeed also wrote about the C. Achutha Menon-led governments in which the CPI partnered with the Congress and the IUML, arguing that the period laid the foundation for the famed Kerala Model of development.

“It was that government which distributed land to tenants and implemented land reforms,” Mr. Majeed contended, saying the CPI(M) never really acknowledged the historical achievements of that government.

He used strong words against Opposition Leader and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan for being “condescending” towards the CPI and displaying “a holier-than-thou attitude.”

The day also saw the CPI(M) mouthpiece Deshabhimani carry an article by party State secretariat member C.N. Mohanan critical of the CPI for “seeking to drive a division” within the LDF. Furthering his earlier attack on the CPI for its legacy of “siding with the Congress during the Emergency”, Mr. Mohanan said the post-Emergency win of the Congress-led alliance in Keralam against the national trend reflected the State’s peculiar social situation defined by an anti-Communist political ideology.

He also sought to blame the CPI for kicking up a controversy over “a non-issue”, as the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly “has always been held by the CPI(M)”.

In a conversation with The Hindu , CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam sought to downplay Mr. Majeed’s indirect invite to switch sides, contending that “the CPI, being the founder of the LDF, has utmost political clarity, with a profound understanding of the political depth of the alliance”. He said the stances taken by the CPI have always been aimed at strengthening the LDF. “Those making such appeals to the CPI should at least know that,“ he said.

However, Mr. Viswam refused to make light of the allegations hurled against the CPI by Mr. Mohanan, arguing that it would be “good for the CPI(M)” to reflect on its own partnership in the early 1970s with “extreme right formations” such as the Jan Sangh, Swatantra Party and Syndicate Congress.

“The CPI admitted its mistakes at the Bhatinda Party Congress (in 1978) and made a public admission. The CPI(M), too, owned its mistake at the Jalandhar Congress, but kept it under wraps,” he said.

Mr.