: The political position of the CPI(M) in Kerala vis-à-vis the Congress had been consistent and unambiguous all these years and the reported developments in West Bengal [where the party reportedly has a poll understanding with the Congress] would only be looked at after the Kerala election, according to CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan.
There is serious discontent among a growing section of Congress workers, according to him. “No one in the Congress leadership has a firm opinion on anything. They are all susceptible to other influences and compromise on issues easily. When [Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief] V.M. Sudheeran says something, everyone immediately realises that he’s going to swallow his words soon. While there’s serious infighting among the top brass, a section of workers remains disgruntled,” he claimed in a chat with The Hindu .
Having been at the receiving end of five years of misgovernance, which led to the collapse of sectors such as farming, industrial, health, education and public enterprises, even UDF supporters and trade unionists rued the government’s betrayal, the CPI(M) leader maintained.
According to him, fearing a backlash from the people, the UDF and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had struck a clandestine Vadakara-Beypore model pact with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as a last-ditch effort.
“Mr. Chandy had been pandering to the RSS for sometime, as was evident from the withdrawal of cases against the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) Pravin Togadia and RSS workers, who broke the leg of a police officer at M.G. College. He is helping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has mobilised massive resources in the hope of opening an account in the Kerala Assembly, at some places in return for swinging of votes in Congress’s favour in some other seats,” Mr Vijayan held.
Mr. Vijayan felt that the BJP-BDJS [Bharat Dharma Jana Sena] combine would draw a blank, as the followers of Sree Narayana Guru’s teachings in the SNDP would have no truck with the RSS. “Their ideologies are poles apart.”
‘Party united’
Responding to a query, he held that there was no squabble in the CPI(M), as made out by a section of the media, adding that the senior leader V.S. Achuthanandan and himself were working in concert.
Asked about Mr. Achuthanandan’s letter to the State Police Chief in March against his party’s candidate Nikesh Kumar who allegedly trails several cases, he said the party had never considered Mr. Kumar corrupt. “I don’t know in what circumstances the purported letter was written.”
He sought to brush aside the open questions flung at him by Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, saying none of the queries deserved a response. “We have already made our stance clear on all the issues he raised and the people have taken it well.”
He also downplayed some Catholic Patriarchs’ seemingly pro-UDF and BJP statements, saying that while there had been efforts to drag religious authorities into electioneering, minority religious institutions had not bitten the bait so far.
