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Rift between communist parties widens in Kerala

TRIVANDRUM - The national leadership of Communist Party of India on Thursday intervened to end the raging statement war between the leaders of his party and the Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPM) in Kerala.

CPI all-India general secretary Sudhakar Reddy appealed to the state leaders to refrain from open confrontation, which will weaken the opposition Left Democratic Front in the state. He said he will meet his CPM counterpart Prakash Karat and resolve the differences prevailing between the two parties in the state.

The statement war was triggered by CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan by coming down heavily on the CPI for their failure to support the shutdown strike called by the party on August 2 to protest the arrest of party Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan in connection with the brutal murder of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) activist Abdul Shukoor.

He said that the CPI approach was against the coalition dharma of partners helping each other in moments of crisis. Without naming the CPI, he said some of his party friends had encouraged their enemies when they mounted a concerted attack on the CPM.

“Normally, one would expect a little support from our friends when we are under attack. But in this case our friends helped our enemies by going around declaring that they are not a murderous outfit,” Vijayan said.

An angry CPI secretary Panniyan Raveendran asked what authority the CPM had to ask other coalition partners to act according to their directives.

He said that the CPI was party with its own individuality and it will not surrender its right to take its political stand to the big brother. The statement war snowballed when senior leaders from both sides rallied behind their respective party leadership. However, the attempt by senior CPM leader and LDF convenor Vaikom Viswom to justify his party secretary widened the rift.

Senior CPI leader said Viswom’s intervention in the issue did not befit the post he held and asked him to resign from the post of LDF convenor. He pointed out that the LDF convenor was duty bound to protect all the coalition partners and not to side one party.

The rift between the two leading parties affected the functioning of the LDF last week when the CPM and the CPI sent two separate teams to Nelliyampathy in Palghat district to study allegation of forest grabbing by the land mafia.

Sudhakar Reddy said differences between parties in a coalition were natural but it was not right to drag them to the public.

Blaming the CPM for the open statement war, the CPI general secretary expressed the hope that the differences could be resolved amicably through discussions.

He said that he will take an initiative in this regard. He urged his party leaders in Kerala to stop the open statements till then.

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