The State secretariats of the CPI(M), CPI and RSP are meeting on Wednesday to discuss the emerging political situation amidst heightened speculations about the Kerala Congress (M) looking at options outside the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).
The CPI(M) and CPI State secretariats are meeting here and the RSP State secretariat at Kollam. The meetings have generated considerable interest because of talks about what KC(M) leader K.M. Mani proposes to do and how the LDF should respond should there be some serious move on his part.
The CPI(M) stand as of now is not to play any proactive role to bring down the government and let the contradictions within the ruling alliance to worsen so that it would find the going tough as the days pass by. That Mr. Mani sent feelers to the CPI(M) is being confirmed by party leaders, but they also pointed out that the ongoing public discussion on the issue has only made it difficult for the party to make any concrete move.
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Leadership of the CPI and RSP had for long been seeking some move from the LDF to entice UDF partners and bring down the government. However, the CPI(M) had been equally forceful in rejecting any such proposal. The party for quite sometime resisted the temptation to do so for various reasons, some of them to do with equations and interests within the organisation.
CPI stance
However, CPI and RSP leaders had stated their position both in private and public on several occasions. The latest such statement was by CPI State secretary Pannian Ravindran, who almost said that the LDF was planning to bring down the government. However, after a meeting with his CPI(M) counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, he toned down his position somewhat, still leaving room for speculation.
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The question before the LDF is either of the two: whether it wishes to pander to Mr. Mani’s interests with long-term political gains in mind or to firmly declare that it would rather wait for the government to collapse, technically and politically, under the weight of its own contradictions. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan seemed to hint at the latter, but the party leadership may have to be clearer about its stand on the issue.
The LDF currently runs the risk of ongoing talks about an impending government change diverting public attention from the ‘solar scam’ over which it has built up considerable political momentum during the last few days. That is something that the LDF can ill afford.