Making it clear that the fissures in the Kerala left were widening by the day, the CPI, second biggest constituent of the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF, on Wednesday launched an indirect but scathing attack against the Marxists for their alleged reluctance and inability to hold effective campaigns against the Congress-led UDF Government and their bid to justify Ministers facing serious corruption charges.
"Some people are now saying that Finance Minister KM Mani (facing serious corruption charges) is a clever leader qualified to become the Chief Minister. We would like to make it clear that those who say so should not expect the CPI to carry that palanquin of corruption," State CPI secretary Pannyan Raveendran said on Wednesday in an obvious attack against the CPI(M).
"We are not eager to form a Government with a palanquin of corruption," Pannyan said referring to the rumours that the CPI(M) leadership was planning to dethrone the UDF Government by luring Mani's Kerala Congress (M), third biggest UDF constituent, into the lDF fold with the promise to make him Chief Minister when a left Government was formed.
Inaugurating a CPI protest programme in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, Pannyan alleged that the CPI(M) had lost its capacity to hold successful stirs against the Government by stating that all the leftist agitations that had been successful since the UDF came to power were held by his party.
The CPI protest was organised to demand the resignation of Mani who was facing the charge of demanding Rs5 crore and taking Rs1 crore as bribe from the State's bar owners to help them in getting bar licences renewed. The CPI had decided to hold the stir on its own after the CPI(M), heading the coalition, showed no interest in convening an lDF meeting to discuss the matter.
Stating that most of the struggles the lDF had held since the UDF came to power had been failures, Pannyan said his party had wanted a joint lDF campaign to demand or Mani's resignation.