Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI leadership in Kerala has often displayed a penchant for punching above its weight.
Though down in the dumps after the massive electoral defeat suffered by the LDF, in which the party is a junior partner of the CPI(M), the CPI now wants the deputy leader’s post in the Opposition ranks.
So far, no such position exists in the state legislature.
The reason advanced by the CPI leadership while openly pressing its demand is that the changed political context calls for the LDF to act collectively. The party also holds that this would help reposition the LDF as an inclusive coalition capable of taking up pro-people issues more effectively.
But party insiders say the proposition came from CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam without sufficient internal consultations. Now that the party has gone public with the demand, the leadership finds it hard to retract.
The partner’s demand, however, did not go down well with the CPI(M) leadership. Soon after the shocking verdict, the party chose former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as its legislature party leader, who automatically became the Leader of the Opposition.
The 81-year-old leader had already reconciled himself to his new role and never asked for a deputy to assist him in his responsibilities. A strong feeling within the party is that having a deputy would be more of a decorative adjunct than serving any meaningful political purpose.
Unfriendly friendship
Ever since the split in the undivided Communist Party of India in 1964, the CPI(M) and the CPI have often confronted each other.
Doctrinaire issues, geopolitical shifts and differing approaches towards the Congress government at the Centre had led to the long-raging factionalism within the party, culminating in the split. The CPI, prompted by the Soviet Communist Party, adopted a conciliatory approach towards the then Congress government, while the CPI(M) continued to be less accommodative.
In the first Assembly elections in Kerala after the split, the two parties contested separately. Dispelling the national perception of the CPI being the larger of the two, the CPI(M) demonstrated its grassroots strength in those elections. However, no party mustered sufficient strength to form a government in 1965.
In 1967, the CPI joined the seven-party alliance led by the CPI(M), leading to the formation of the second E.M.S. Namboodiripad ministry. That government, however, collapsed in 1969 after most alliance partners, including the CPI and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), withdrew support.
This led to the formation of an alternative government headed by CPI veteran C. Achutha Menon with the outside support of the Congress.
By then, New Delhi under the Indira Gandhi government had moved closer to the erstwhile Soviet Union. This provided the CPI with an ideological rationale to forge an open alliance with the Congress.
In the 1971 Assembly elections, the CPI, Congress and IUML, along with smaller allies such as the RSP, contested together and secured a decisive mandate. Though the Congress emerged as the single largest party, the Chief Minister’s post was handed to Achutha Menon, apparently at the direction of the Congress high command.
That ministry lasted till 1977, part of which coincided with the Emergency period. When the alliance returned to power in 1977 with a thumping majority, the Congress reclaimed the leadership of the government.
After remaining an ally of the Congress for a couple more years—a politically turbulent period—the CPI left the alliance and joined the LDF under the stewardship of the CPI(M). It has remained part of the LDF ever since.
Even so, the relationship between the two parties has remained a classic case of “unfriendly friendship”. While the CPI(M), despite being the larger partner, has generally adopted a less confrontational posture, sections of the CPI leadership have often resorted to moral grandstanding, projecting themselves as custodians of the finest Left traditions.
The party’s opposition to the previous LDF government’s decision to sign up for the Centre’s PM SHRI school project was a case in point.
No leeway for the CPI
Whether the CPI(M) concedes its ally’s demand for a deputy leader or not, the CPI has little option but to continue within the LDF in the present political context.
Kerala has two well-entrenched political coalitions. Even if the CPI were to move to the UDF, it would lose the second-ranking position it presently enjoys in the LDF. Within the UDF, the IUML remains the long-entrenched second-largest constituent.
The CPI would therefore find itself in political limbo if it were to leave the LDF.
Besides, smaller LDF constituents are also of the view that the CPI’s demand does not merit serious consideration.
