MALAPPURAM: The IUML is rewriting its organisational and political script through its latest restructuring to project a broader identity beyond the community-based politics with which it has traditionally been associated. The elevation of former DYFI state treasurer C Shyam Sundar, a non-Muslim leader, as one of the party’s state vice-presidents is a clear signal yet of the League’s bid to expand its political canvas and counter CPM’s campaign to portray it as a communal outfit.
The change, however, is not confined to Shyam Sundar’s elevation.The League’s political evolution is also reflected in the space it has created for women and former Haritha leaders, its decision to field women in the assembly election and its attempt to accommodate leaders who were denied tickets.
The restructuring has also brought into sharp focus the party’s “one person, one post” policy,under which ministers and MLAs are being kept away from organisational positions.
Shyam Sundar’s elevation carries considerable political significance. A native of Pallassana and a former DYFI state treasurer, he quit CPM in 2010 amid factional rivalry in the party and subsequently joined IUML. He later rose through the ranks of the Swathanthra Karshaka Sangham, the party’s farmers’ wing.
His arrival at the top rung of the League comes at a time when the CPM has sharpened its attack on the IUML’s communal credentials. By placing a former Left youth leader from outside the Muslim community in a key state leadership position, the League has acquired a potent political response to that campaign.
Shyam Sundar has openly linked his elevation to the party’s changing political character.
“Panakkad Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal and the party have entrusted me with a major responsibility,which reflects the recognition given to party workers. The CPM has been using the communal tag against the League as a political tool,” Shyam Sundar told TNIE.
