CPI(M) not to go public on CPI

Party takes strong exception to CPI’s stand on Thomas Chandy issue

The CPI(M) State secretariat which met here on Friday decided not to go public with its differences with the CPI over the stance taken by that party ahead of the resignation of former Transport Minister Thomas Chandy from the State Cabinet.

While the meeting endorsed the way Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan handled the Chandy row, it took strong exception to the CPI trying to score political brownie points by suddenly boycotting last Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, thereby, making it appear as if it was instrumental in Mr. Chandy finally putting in his papers.

The arguments, which CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan raised at Thursday’s press conference and explained further in the party mouthpiece

Deshabhimani on Friday in response to CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran’s assertion of what warranted the extraordinary move of boycotting the Cabinet meeting in his party’s

Janayugam daily, would now be taken up at the Left Democratic Front (LDF) meeting, and not outside.

What irked the CPI(M) was the way in which the CPI was able to showcase itself as the authentic Left capable of taking a strident stance against corruption. “While the public could have had their own surmises on what led to the delay in Mr. Chandy’s resignation, the CPI, which was in the know of the developments, should not have staged such a drama,” the CPI(M) secretariat maintained.

But the party would not want the rift to deepen further, as it would rattle the coalition and tarnish the image of the government, which received some beating in the face of the Chandy row and the CPI’s stance, it thought.

The CPI’s sudden outburst favouring some allegations of land grab levelled by the Opposition and the BJP would do no good for the coalition or the government. Hence, no public wrangling. But the party would raise the matter strongly in the next coalition meeting.