Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan hoists red flag ahead of 23rd party congress of CPM; attacks Opposition

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan hoisted the red flag here, ahead of the 23rd Congress of the CPM, scheduled to begin from April 6.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan (Photo | EPS)
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan (Photo | EPS)

KANNUR: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday hoisted the red flag here, ahead of the 23rd Congress of the CPI(M), scheduled to begin from April 6.

Addressing thousands of party workers gathered here to witness the flag hoisting at the opening ceremony of the conference at AKG nagar here, Vijayan flayed the Congress, BJP and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), saying all the three were jointly targetting the Left movement.

Referring to the history of Left movement in Kerala, Vijayan said the party had braved a period of manhunt against its workers and the people of the state stood by it.

The senior CPM leader hoisted the red flag, which arrived in Kannur in a procession from Vayalar-Punnapara, a place where the historic communist uprising took place in 1946 against the alleged misrule of a Dewan of the King of Travancore.

The 23rd Congress is expected to comprehensively deliberate on the prevailing international and national situations and formulate the political and tactical line and the tasks to be adopted by the Party in coming days, keeping in mind the idea of an alternative front without Congress have been gaining momentum.

"Today we can see that the Congress, the BJP and the League have come together to attack the Left government...For BJP, the Left is its biggest ideological enemy. They are trying their level best to strangulate our state in every possible manner. The Congress and the league have joined them," Vijayan, also the Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), said in an apparent reference to their opposition to his government's Silver Line project.

Under normal circumstances, he said if a policy against the interest of the state is introduced, political organisations in the state will raise their voice against it.

"But have you ever seen the Congress or the League raising their voice against such moves of the union government. Have you ever heard any Congress or League MPs raising their voice for Kerala in the Parliament?" Vijayan asked.

Condemning the Congress' opposition to the proposed K-Rail project, Vijayan said, "they can voice their opposition against the development projects in Kerala."

"They can ask the union government not to grant permission to any developmental projects in the state. They want to ensure that no developmental activity takes place in the state," Vijayan said.

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury will inaugurate the Party Congress here on Wednesday.

Around 800 delegates, including party members and political observers from across the country are expected to attend the conference.

Ahead of the party congress, the communist party had organised numerous seminars on various topics ranging from the Indian Constitution, science and education, Agriculture, religion, beliefs and communalism among many others.

The party has extended invitation to Tamil Nadu Chief minister M K Stalin to attend a seminar along with Vijayan on April 9, deliberating on the topic, the center-state relations.

The Party Congress will be held from April 6-10 and apart from finalising the tactical and political stand of the CPI(M), it will also decide the next general secretary to lead the party for the next three years.

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