THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM has hardened its stand over CPI’s demand for the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition following CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam’s public criticism of former CM Pinarayi Vijayan, leaving the junior partner with a difficult choice. The CPM state leadership has decided not to backtrack from its position, with leaders telling TNIE that Pinarayi’s remark was only a reiteration of the party stand by its senior-most leader.
According to leaders of LDF constituents, CPI’s aggressive stand has pushed it into a corner. “It can either withdraw by conceding to CPM’s position or expose itself to a prolonged confrontation, which will eventually affect the morale of the party,” said an LDF leader.
The immediate question before CPI is whether to take the confrontation a step further by functioning as a separate bloc in the assembly. Though such a move could strengthen its bargaining position, a majority of its leaders are understood to be against it, fearing it could damage Left unity at the national level.
At the same time, backing down without securing the post could be interpreted as CPI’s failure to assert itself against CPM. The CPI leadership is therefore caught between political assertion and alliance discipline. It has already drawn a line by refusing to attend the parliamentary party meeting, but any escalation could carry consequences beyond the immediate issue.
For CPM, the resistance is not merely about allocation of a post. It is keen to retain control over the functioning of the LDF parliamentary party and is wary of allowing CPI’s demand to acquire larger political significance in the front.
LDF leaders argue that the differences of opinion between CPM and CPI, which had been growing during the last years in power, have now reached boiling point. CPM and other LDF parties are particularly critical of the way CPI publicly handled the PM SHRI issue.
“Though CPI had four key portfolios—revenue, agriculture, animal husbandry, and food and civil supplies—which have a direct bearing on public opinion, its leaders are now criticising CPM for the poll setback. That is not right,” an LDF leader said.
The CPI leadership has maintained that the functioning style of CPM leaders, including Pinarayi, was responsible for the poll debacle. “We can’t continue with this format. We want a say in decision-making; else, there is no guarantee that controversial issues will not recur,” said a CPI state secretariat member.
LDF parties, however, allege that CPI, which is now arguing for a greater democratic role in decision making, has itself not followed such a principle.
“In 2022, when M V Shreyams Kumar’s Rajya Sabha term ended, the seat was to be shared with other front parties. However, the CPI leadership argued that since Left parties wanted greater representation in Parliament, the seat should be given to it. This was accepted as CPM supported the claim,” an LDF leader said.
“But when Binoy Viswam’s Rajya Sabha term ended in 2024, the CPI argued that since it was its own seat, it should remain with the party. Thus, CPI got an additional seat. CPM is now facing the consequences of its own decisions. Viswam’s criticism of Pinarayi has further complicated the equation,” he added.
Difficult position
The immediate question before CPI is whether to take the confrontation a step further by functioning as a separate bloc in assembly
Though this could strengthen its bargaining position, a majority of leaders are understood to be against it, fearing it could damage Left unity at the national level
At the same time, backing down without securing the post could be interpreted as CPI’s failure to assert itself against CPM
CPM central leadership not keen to intervene
Though CPI has maintained that the issue will be discussed by the national leaderships of the two parties, the CPM central leadership is understood to be in no mood to intervene in a manner that could force its state unit to yield. A central CPM leader reiterated that since it is a state issue, the parties’ state leaderships should resolve it. “However, CPI has no claim over the post since there is no precedent,” he said.