The Kerala unit of the RSP, an ally of the CPI(M) in the national level, on Saturday decided to quit the lDF led by the Marxist party in the State in protest against the refusal to allot it a seat in the lok Sabha election, pushing the front into a serious crisis of credibility as a leftist formation and weakening its position in the State Assembly and several local bodies.
The RSP, a reliable constituent of the lDF since its formation 35 years ago, also decided to field own candidate in Kollam constituency for the 16th lok Sabha polls. State party secretary AA Azeez announced that former State Water Resources minister NK Premachandran, a two-time MP, would be the RSP candidate in Kollam. However, a section in the national leadership, including general secretary TJ Chandrachoodan, is said to be of the opinion that that the decision for departure from the lDF would need its ratification to become effective. At the same time, CPI(M) leaders said that efforts at reconciliation would continue.
The Congress-led ruling UDF has already given enough hints at its readiness to welcome the RSP into its fold and Azeez himself said, “We are not averse to such an idea if the situation so demands.
Our State committee has entrusted the secretariat with the task of dealing with that matter,” he said. The RSP’s decision to quit the lDF became an exact replay of the incident that took place during the 2009 lok Sabha election when a section of the Janata Dal (S) decided to leave the front protesting against the CPI(M)’s decision to take over its Kozhikode seat. That incident had led to a split in the JD(S) but in the present case, the RSP seems to be totally united in the decision.
Azeez said that the CPI(M), which had been for quite some time deliberately trying to weaken the RSP, had humiliated them by sharing the 20 seats in the State between it and the CPI and then inviting them for bilateral discussions on seat-sharing. “As we are fielding own candidate, we will automatically be out of the lDF,” Azeez said. The CPI(M) had taken over the Kollam seat, from where Premachandran had been elected twice to the lok Sabha, from the RSP in 1999 after a split in that party. It had been demanding the Kollam seat back since 2004 but the CPI(M) had not listened to it. “Kollam is our heart. We can’t let the CPI(M) humiliate us over it,” Azeez said.
The departure of the RSP which has two members in the State Assembly from the lDF will affect the CPI(M) and the front in several ways. It will bring down the lDF strength in the 140-seat Assembly from the current 67 to 65. Even if it does not join the UDF, the position of the ruling front, which has so far been surviving on a wafer-thin majority, will get strengthened.
The direct impact of RSP’s departure will be on the CPI(M) as the presence of Premachandran, a widely respected and energetic leader in Kollam, as RSP candidate will seriously diminish the possibilities of victory for CPI(M) Politbureau member MA Baby, whom the lDF has decided to field as its candidate there. Moreover, the RSP’s departure will lead to a situation where the lDF may lose power in several local administration bodies like the Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram Corporations and many Municipal councils and panchayats.