Author: VR Jayaraj
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: March 23, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/164536/CPM-shares-dais-with-Madani-Fissures-in-LDF.html
The poll alliance forged by the official leadership
of the Kerala CPI(M) with the PDP of Abdul Nasser Madani has worsened the
divisionism in the Marxist party and also caused deep fissures in the party-led
ruling LDF.
After the standoff between the CPI(M) and
the CPI over the right to contest the Ponnani Lok Sabha seat, the sharing
of the platforms of LDF election conventions by CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi
Vijayan and PDP leaders and the way they openly humiliate the leaders of LDF
constituents have led to strong protests in the front.
Pinarayi had shared the dais with PDP chief
Abdul Nasser Madani, whom most sections of the Kerala society still see as
leader of a pro-extremist outfit, at Ponnani on Saturday and with his deputy
Poonthura Siraj at Attingal on Friday. Siraj had caused discomfort among the
LDF partners by making derogatory remarks against RSP national chief TJ Chandrachoodan
from the LDF venue in the presence of Pinarayi and other front leaders.
CPI State secretary Veliyam Bhargavan on Sunday
reacted sharply to Siraj's statement asking what right he had to talk like
that. CPI national general secretary AB Bardhan had on Friday termed Madani's
PDP as a communal party, but Pinarayi and associates still chose to go ahead
with the new alliance with Madani, against whom reports of terror links abounded.
The enthusiasm of CPI(M)'s Pinarayi faction
in establishing electoral ties with Madani's party is also causing disruptions
in the fragile peace now being felt inside the Marxist party. According to
sources, Pinarayi's arch rival and State Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has
given strict instructions that PDP activists should not be allowed to participate
in the poll programmes he is participating in.
While Pinarayi shared the dais with PDP leaders
at Ponnani and Attingal in the presence of thousands of PDP workers, not even
a single PDP worker was seen at the election conventions that Achuthanandan
inaugurated in Mavelikkara, Alathur and Palakkad constituencies. Achuthanandan
had already said that he would look into the reports about Madani's alleged
terror links and had even summoned DIG TK Vinod Kumar, head of the Kerala
Police's Anti-Terror Squad to inquire about the progress of the investigations
into terror operations inside the State.
Sources in the CPI(M) said that Pinarayi's
programme of enforcing his "arbitrary decisions" on the party would
lead to yet another explosion in the organisation. They said Achuthanandan
was lying low for the time being to abide by the central leadership's instruction
not to cause hiccups with his moves on the SNC Lavalin corruption scandal,
in which the CBI was waiting to make Pinarayi one of the key accused.
"Pinarayi and his loyalists in the party
are trying to argue that the CPI(M) was united in roping in Madani as its
associate. This is not true. Even several of his own loyalists are strongly
opposed to this new marriage. But they are afraid to speak out concerned about
the consequences. However, the protests would soon reach a flashpoint,"
said a member of the CPI(M)'s Ernakulam district committee.
He said that the CPI was not acting tough
now just because of their frailty and due to their decision not to create
further problems till the elections were over. "Veliyam has already hinted
that his actual reaction to the alliance would come after the elections. The
RSP, which was humiliated by Madani's lieutenant, would also raise its voice.
And if we lose Ponnani even after all these alliances, the fight within the
party and the front would be real hot," he added.
