THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a bid to keep its lead coalition partner on tenterhooks, the CPI has decided to boycott Wednesday’s cabinet meeting if the CPM failed to respond positively to the party’s demands on the PM SHRI scheme.
The CPI state secretariat, which met online on Tuesday, decided to wait for a positive response from the CPM till the cabinet meeting. If the CPM decides to stick to their position of continuing with the PM SHRI scheme, the four CPI ministers will stay away from the cabinet meeting.
“It is up to the CPM to make a move now. We have conveyed our position. The issue was not created by the CPI,” a party leader said.
As part of his efforts to ease the tension, CPM general secretary M A Baby rang up CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam. Binoy told Baby that the state cabinet must ask the Union government to freeze the programme as the state did not intend to continue with it. However, the education department is of the view that the suggestion is not practical.
In his talks with Binoy, Baby reportedly reiterated Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s offer that the government would form a cabinet sub-committee to study and suggest ways to resolve the issue. The programme would not be implemented in haste. At any stage, if the government feels that the Union government is trying to impose saffronisation through any means, it would not implement it, or even abandon the entire programme. However, Binoy asserted that the programme should be scrapped at once.
The CPM has also decided to take a wait and watch approach. The cabinet meeting, which was slated for the morning, has been rescheduled to the afternoon. “We have told them what is practical. The ball is now in CPI’s court,” a CPM leader said.
According to CPI insiders, the leadership is also weighing the risks any hasty action could trigger.
Rift between allies casts shadow elsewhere too
“You can boycott the cabinet once or twice. Then will we be able to withdraw our ministers which will undermine the LDF unity ahead of a crucial election? Is the current CPI leadership strong enough to take such a huge risk?” a senior CPI leader wondered.
Meanwhile, the rift between the two key LDF allies appears to be casting its shadow on other areas too. The violent protest by CPM’s student arm, SFI, against the hike in fees in Kerala Agricultural University is said to be an offshoot of the dispute.
The CPM leaders allege CPI’s “double standards” in questioning the PM SHRI programme while its ministers implemented Union government projects.
“At the time of the formation of the Constitution, education was enlisted as a state subject. However, it was changed to the concurrent list during Emergency. We all know where was CPI during that period. Now they are presenting themselves as saviours, while they use the PM’s photo in several projects,” a CPM leader said.
