Malappuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan chastened workers of the ruling CPM on Wednesday for waving flags carrying images of revolutionary icon Ernesto Che Guevara at a government function in Malappuram district.
“The LDF won the election. But this government is not of the LDF, but of the state,” the chief minister said while laying the foundation stone for Parappanangadi harbour.
The CPM is the major constituent at the Left Democratic Front government with 58 seats in the state assembly.
“I saw a flag rising in the back. It carries the image of a person who is accepted and adored by a lot of people in our state. There is nothing wrong in waving this flag in another occasion. But this is not the right place,” Pinarayi said and sought to remind the party workers that there is no need to carry a flag to every place.
Che, who was shot dead by CIA-trained troops in Bolivia on October 9, 1967, continues to evoke adulation in Kerala especially in the Left circles.
Pinarayi's rebuke came at a time when the CPM is on the defence over the killing of two Youth Congress workers in Kasaragod district on February 17. A Peethambaran, CPM’s local committee member has been arrested in the case.
(This story first appeared in The Week)
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