KOZHIKODE: Holding red flags and shouting slogans recalling the valiant history of the Communist party in the Vadakara region, close to thousand CPM workers took out a protest march at Kuttiyadi on Wednesday evening to vent their anger against the party decision to allocate the seat to its new ally, Kerala Congress (M).
The second protest march in 48 hours, led by the local and branch committee members, shook the rank and file of the party and gave the CPM leadership the jitters. The party will be keen to ensure the stir does not have its ripple effect on other constituencies in the district.“We are not responsible if the party loses in Vadakara and Nadapuram,” warned the marching protesters, who included women and children.
Unlike Monday’s march, the protesters neither demanded K P Kunjammadkutty as their candidate nor held placards carrying his image on Wednesday. Their only demand is: Field a CPM candidate.“This protest is not against the CPM or the Left front. We need a CPM candidate from Kuttiyadi to contest. The constituency is a red bastion and many martyrs had laid down their lives for the cause of the party. From 1987, CPM has held this seat except last year,” said Kuttiyadi local committee member K K Gireesh.
CPM in a fix over protest in Kuttiyadi
“No party cadre gathered here should indulge in any activity that will harm the party,” urged CPM Kuttiyadi local committee member K P Valsan. Gireesh denied reports that they were thinking of fielding a rebel candidate. “We have not said that KC(M) candidate will not be approved. Kerala Congress has no workers here. It was a pain that Kuttiyadi was lost to the UDF last time, the first time in history. This time, we had made all preparations to wrest it,” he said.
CPM is in a fix over the issue. The party has a glorious past in Nadapuram, Kuttiyadi areas where the red flag was raised over the years, bravely fighting feudalism in an agrarian society. Gauging the mood, CPM district secretary P Mohanan had responded that the protesters were party workers and they would be convinced about the situation. Also, K P Kunjammadkutty himself had appealed not to protest in his name and not cause harm to the party.
At the same time, CPM Malappuram district committee had outrightly dismissed the protest in Ponnani as those were not party workers. Political observer K C Umesh Babu said: “Kuttiyadi-Nadapuram region is special as far as the Communist party is concerned. The party workers are expressing their genuine feelings which can’t be ignored easily.”