THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Eldho Abraham episode could well prove to be a costly affair for the CPI, once dubbed as the party of true Communists in Kerala. With no immediate action against police officials and the deafening silence on the part of state chief Kanam Rajendran irking the cadre, the factional feud within the party is gradually surfacing.
It was after a long interval that the CPI in Kerala got a poster boy in Kanam. Making it to the top amidst factional feud and opposition from the K E Ismail faction, Kanam had created an impression of being a true successor on the lines of former CPI strongmen like Veliyam Bhargavan and C K Chandrappan.
Soon after Pinarayi Vijayan assumed charge as Chief Minister, Kanam shot to fame with his new avatar as the true Communist. In a short period, the CPI took up cudgels on a number of issues against the ruling Left Government and was not reluctant for even an open tussle with the CPM and the Chief Minister.
On more than one occasion, be it the Maoist killings in Nilambur, the government stance against bringing Cabinet decisions under RTI, political killings, back-to-back custodial deaths or the move to grant magisterial powers to Commissioners - the CPI had come out against the government stance.
On most of these issues, it was Kanam himself who spearheaded the attack. The CPI state chief had, in fact, even unleashed a direct and scathing attack on the Home Department under Pinarayi in the RTI issue, leading to a bitter war of words between Pinarayi and Kanam. It is hence natural that Kanam’s deafening silence has drawn criticism from within.
Critics within the party say the Eldho episode has more than what meets the eye. The pregnant silence of the state leadership, despite a party legislator and district secretary sustaining injuries, apparently has something to do with internal factional issues that have been dormant for some time now. Even when Kanam enjoyed an upper hand in the party, a number of district units like Idukki, Ernakulam and Kozhikode stayed away from the official faction. In Ernakulam, where the CPM-CPI tussle is a regular affair, the CPI district leadership has been fighting a lone battle, with the Kanam faction nowhere in the picture. “We have decided to wait until the government takes action on the Collector’s report. If there is no proper action, the party will go ahead with intense agitations against the police,” said a CPI leader from Ernakulam.