The Kerala NCP, a minor constituent of the State’s CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF, on Tuesday decided to ask the national leadership to review its decision to extend outside support to the BJP for forming Government in Maharashtra. A leadership meeting held in Kochi also decided to hold emergency meetings of the State executive and general body to discuss the issue in detail.
However, a section in the party, which supports the national leadership’s move, made it clear that the decision to ask party president Sharad Pawar to reconsider the decision to support the BJP in Maharashtra was taken only as per a general understanding in the meeting and that it would accept whatever decision Pawar took.
State president Uzhavoor Vijayan, leader of the ‘secularist’ section in the party, claimed that most of the leaders who took part in the meeting adopted the “secular position” by opposing the decision to support the BJP but Thomas Chandy MlA, parliamentary party leader, contradicted that claim by saying, “It was only a general understanding.”
The Kerala NCP has been witnessing a standoff between the “secularists” led by Vijayan, who considered BJP as a right wing Hindu outfit, and the “pragmatists” headed by Chandy since party leader Praful Patel made a statement in Mumbai on Sunday expressing readiness to extend unconditional outside support to the BJP to form Government in Maharashtra.
While the section headed by Vijayan and AK Saseendran MlA declared that the Kerala NCP would remain in the lDF by taking an independent stand if Pawar stuck to his decision, the others led by Chandy announced that those who opposed the national leadership’s decision would have to leave the party.
Uzhavoor Vijayan said after the meeting on Tuesday that Thomas Chandy had revised his earlier stand of supporting the move to align with the BJP as he did not get much support but the MlA contradicted it by saying, “The only understanding is on asking the leadership to review its stand. We will be with the national leadership in whatever decision it takes.”
“There was an opinion in the meeting that Pawar should be informed that his stand was not in conformity with the State unit’s secular position. let the national leadership reconsider its decision if it can. Don’t we know that this is not going to happenIJ” Chandy asked.
Chandy successfully opposed the move of some “secularists” to force the meeting to adopt a resolution asking the national leadership to revise its stand. The meeting entrusted Uzhavoor Vijayan with the task of informing Pawar about the general sentiment of the Kerala leaders.
The day had seen sharp exchanges between the two sections with Chandy attacking the CPI(M) and the other left parties for criticising Pawar for his move in Maharashtra and his own colleagues for allegedly surrendering themselves to the left’s pressure and Vijayan and Saseendran reiterating their decision to continue opposing the Pawar move.
Stating that those who could not accept the national leadership’s decisions could leave the party, Thomas Chandy said that he did not expect a split in the State party unit as the “departure of four or five persons cannot be considered as a split.” He said that it was an indisputable fact that the BJP was a strong party in Kerala.
Referring to the CPI(M)’s criticisms against Pawar, Chandy said the Marxists should not worry about the alliances the NCP should keep. “These are the same people who had gone with J Jayalalithaa. Did we object to it thenIJ Out of the 29 States in the country, the NCP has MlAs in eight or nine states. The left need not tell us with whom we should ally in these States,” he said.