THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) letter to the state police chief seeking to register a case against Pinarayi Vijayan, at a time when the ex-chief minister is facing revolt within the party and the front, has left his critics within the CPM in a quandary.
Meanwhile, as it gears up for its extended state committee meeting, an embattled CPM has now found new reasons to reconsolidate itself.
Pushed against the wall over the probe, the entire CPM, from general secretary M A Baby who has been keen on bringing in radical shifts in the party to state secretary M V Govindan, has rallied behind the CPM veteran.
Hence, even as some senior leaders were gearing up to target the state leadership, including Pinarayi and Govindan, at the extended state committee meeting, they now seem to be left with no option but to openly defend the party veteran.
Since the focus has shifted to the ED case and how the UDF government would respond, whether these leaders would choose not to target Pinarayi at the extended meet remains to be seen.
“There are political, administrative and organisational reasons for the Left’s defeat (in the assembly elections). There’s no point in going for a postmortem of the first two. As far as organisational reasons are concerned, we would do a complete introspection. Criticism against leaders including Pinarayi would continue, but at this stage, we don’t want to give an impression of a divided house,” said a senior party leader.
Political observers too feel that in view of the current development, the extended meeting would choose to send out a message of unity, and chances are less for anti-Pinarayi attacks. Voices of dissent, even if raised, would be isolated and definitely not harsh, they say.
“With ED in the picture, internal discussions would take a new direction. If they continue to criticise Pinarayi, it would affect the party’s unity. It’s a choice between criticising Pinarayi or the ED. Naturally, even those who keen on expressing their views will choose to defend Pinarayi,” said Left thinker N M Pearson.
With no other leader to replace the patriarch, Pinarayi, in all likelihood, would emerge unscathed, felt political commentator J Prabhash.
“In fact, CPM’s dilemma is the lack of an alternative. Had there been another strong leader, things would have been different. In the current existential crisis, the party and its critics are left with no choice. Hence, there could be an overwhelming support for Pinarayi at this juncture,” he pointed out.
