All is not well in the ties between the CPI(M) and its poor cousins the CPI in Kerala. The simmering differences in the approach of the parties vis-Ã -vis the Indian National Congress came out in the open as Binoy Viswam, widely seen as the next general secretary of the CPI declaring at Kochi on Sunday that “a viable national alliance against the Fascist RSS and its political arm the BJP could be formed only in company of the Congress”.
Viswam, a member of Rajya Sabha, was addressing the memorial meeting in honour of P T Thomas, the veteran Congress leader convened at Kochi by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee. “An alliance of the Left and the Regional parties would not be able to dethrone the RSS and the BJP from power in New Delhi. We should have the Congress playing a significant role in that alliance. Barring Kerala, the CPI and the CPI(M) have electoral alliance with the Congrtess in rest of the country,” said Viswam, who is seen as the intellectual face of the CPI.
Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala, who is the CPI(M) strongman, has made it clear time and again during his party’s district level meetings held in connection with the triennial State Convention that the Congress was a spent force. “The CPI(M) is for an alliance of Left-led regional alliance at the national level,” Vijayan said in all the meetings where he was the key note speaker.
The CPI(M)’s expectations suffered a jolt on Monday as Kanam Rajendran, CPI’s Kerala secretary, who usually toes the line of Pinarayi Vijayan, said on Monday that Congress could not be kept away from an alternative to the RSS and the BJP. “The CPI and the CPI(M) are not strong enough to replace the Congress though the latter has become weaker in some States. This is what Viswam said in his speech. The Left is strong in Kerala but in rest of the country, though we are opposing the RSS and the BJP, we require the cooperation of the Congress,” Rajendran told media on Monday.
It may be worth remembering that the CPI was an ally of the Congress from 1969 to 1980 and had vehemently opposed the dictatorial line of the CPI(M). C Achutha Menon of the CPI was anointed as the chief minister of Kerala in 1969 with the help of the Congress and he remained in that position till 1977. In 1979, P K Vasudevan Nair of the CPI was sworn in Kerala Chief Minister with the support of the Congress. “The CPI(M) was in political wilderness from 1969 to 1980 and the party could taste power only after the CPI came out of the alliance with the Congress in support of the former,” I S Kundoor, the cultural and literary face of the CPI till recently, told The Pioneer.