THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the INDIA block is rocked with desertion and dissension, the CPM has taken the lead in rallying several allies of the amalgam on a single stage against the BJP-led Union government’s alleged discrimination against opposition-ruled states.
Curiously, it is for the first time after over a decade the the Left is seen at the central stage of a national-level opposition political movement, thanks to the Kerala CPM which played a stellar role in making it possible.
With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, the LDF government’s protest in New Delhi, highlighting the Centre’s attempts to financially strangulate states where the opposition is in power, on Thursday became a convergence point for most INDIA bloc parties to stress the necessity of unity among themselves and pledge to defeat BJP in the coming parliament elections.
It goes to the credit of Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM that prominent political leaders from north India - Farooq Abdulla, Aravind Kejriwal, Bhagwant Singh Mann - joined the protest organised by a south Indian state, thus blunting the BJP’s allegation that the opposition was trying to create a north-south divide.
The Congress, the lead partner of the INDIA bloc, was conspicuous by its absence at the event. The national leadership of the party succumbed to the pressure exerted by its Kerala unit and decided to stay away. However, Pinarayi extended solidarity to the protest organised by Congress-led Karnataka government on Wednesday at the same spot.
The development has put a question mark over the Congress national leadership’s ability to function above petty party politics, an allegation raised quite often by leaders like Mamta Banerji, Akhilesh Yadav and Kejriwal. The call for unity of opposition parties by all leaders who spoke at Thursday’s event turned out to be a reminder to the Congress leadership.