Kerala: IUML joins CPI vs CPIM row

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 29 (IANS) Senior Indian Union Muslim League leader and former legislator K.P.A. Majeed has come out strongly in support of the CPI in its escalating face-off with the CPI(M) over the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, accusing Pinarayi Vijayan of treating the smaller Left ally as a subordinate in the LDF.

In an article published in the IUML mouthpiece Chandrika on Saturday, Majeed said Pinarayi’s assertion that the CPI should not even speak about the Deputy Leader of Opposition post and that he would decide which CPI(M) leader should occupy it amounted to the CPI(M) assuming the role of a master in the Left front.

Majeed argued that nobody with a basic understanding of Kerala politics would accept the idea that CPI leaders should simply bow before the CPI(M) and obey its commands.

The CPI, he said, had its own distinct identity and a significant place in the political history of modern Kerala, irrespective of its electoral strength.

His intervention comes amid an increasingly bitter public exchange between the two principal constituents of the LDF.

The CPI, which has eight MLAs against the CPI(M)’s 26 in the 140-member Assembly, has staked its claim to the Deputy Leader of Opposition post as the second-largest constituent of the opposition alliance.

Pinarayi has rejected the demand, saying the post would go to a CPI(M) leader.

Majeed contended that the CPI had been steadily pushed to the margins after entering the CPIM-dominated LDF, pointing out that the key organisational posts of LDF chairman and convener had also remained with the CPI(M).

He went beyond the immediate dispute to highlight the CPI’s historical contribution to Kerala, particularly the C. Achutha Menon government (1970-77), in which the Congress was the live wire.

Majeed credited the CPI-led administration with laying the foundations of Kerala’s development in education, healthcare and land reform, and accused the CPI(M) of deliberately ignoring Achutha Menon’s contribution while giving the credit for land reforms primarily to E.M.S. Namboodiripad and K.R. Gouri Amma.

Referring to the PM SHRI controversy during the previous LDF government, Majeed also recalled how the CPI had opposed the agreement signed by Pinarayi Vijayan and V. Sivankutty, arguing that the CPI’s objections had often been disregarded by the CPI(M).

Majeed said the CPI’s continued suffocation within the LDF over the past quarter century should concern anyone who believes in democracy.

He said the question of whether the CPI should remain in the LDF or consider alternatives should be discussed only after the party declares its own position.

He also dismissed any suggestion that the UDF would be threatened by the CPI’s future political choices, arguing that the first 100 days of the V.D. Satheesan government had demonstrated that the UDF could represent the Left space in Kerala.

“Merely attaching the LDF label does not make an alliance Left-wing,” Majeed argued in a pointed message.

The article marks a significant political intervention by the IUML at a time when the CPI and CPI(M), the two leading forces in the LDF, are engaged in an increasingly open battle over power, status and the functioning of the opposition alliance.

The CPI leadership has already accused Pinarayi of violating coalition norms, while the LDF convenor has appealed to both sides to exercise restraint and resolve the issue through discussions.

Majeed’s article comes at a time when veteran CPI former State Minister C. Divakaran slammed Pinarayi, asking who is he to decide, which has sent shockwaves in the Left.

–IANS

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