Thiruvananthapuram: The recent baton charge on Communist Party of India (CPI) leaders, including MLA Eldho Abraham, seems to have put the CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran on the defensive. Though the blame was initially put on the high-handedness of the cops, the fingers are now being pointed at Kanam. Kanam's stature as the unquestionable leader of the party has been diminished.
Kanam had become the absolute power centre in the party after he was elected as the state secretary for the second time. The other faction led by senior leader E K Ismail was rendered virtually ineffective. However, the recent assault on CPI leaders and Kanam's reaction to the incident have given a fresh assault weapon to the rival group, as was evident from Ismail’s recent remarks. That faction also has the support of Ernakulam district secretary P Raju.
Muvattupuzha MLA Eldho Abraham, a confidant of Kanam, had fractured his arm after the police lathicharged the workers taking part in a protest march against the cops over campus violence in Ernakulam on Tuesday. This had led to quite a dissent within the CPI.
Kanam had earlier itself decided against taking part in the Ernakulam district executive committee in which he was harshly criticised. His only agenda for the Kochi visit was to submit the report on central region.
Cadres in shock
Ardent Kanam supporters were stunned to hear the top leader justifying the police action on the CPI leaders. He even seemed to take a stance that the protest march in Kochi was needless, much to the shock of the cadres. This contradictory opinion is made by a leader who had always taken a strong stance against police atrocities.
That he even dared to hint that senior leader C N Jayadevan had 'blackmailed' him added to the shock factor.
Minister P Thilothaman, another confidant of Kanam, had through a press note denied attempts to cover up a controversy on the involvement of Kanam's son in the food department. "No outsider has intervened in the administrative activities, or business deals of the Supplyco or taken part in them, unlike what is being alleged by some media. When the rice price increased, rice was brought from Andhra Pradesh,” he clarified. Thilothaman also dismissed rumours in this regard as attempts to malign the government, which was only trying to oust those who controlled the ration distribution within the state.
And the benefactor is...
The growing dissent within the CPI has caused some cheers within the CPM, albeit on the sly. CPI is the second biggest partner in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] in Kerala.
Kanam's interventions as a corrective force had even attracted the CPM cadres. So much so that some of the CPM cadres switched over to his side. The leader, who garnered much attention with his unusual actions, however, was not able to intervene when his own party workers were assaulted by the police. This has led to a crisis situation in the CPI.
Anti-Kanam posters
Alappuzha: Posters, seeking to 'rescue' the party from CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran, came up at various parts in Alappuzha, including on the walls of the district office.
The posters were signed by the so-called revisionists of CPI's Ambalappuzha unit. The posters even appeared on the walls of media houses, and party offices on Friday morning. The posters outside the party office were later removed by the workers.
However, CPI district secretary T J Anjalose said that none from his party would dare to do such an action. He blamed the visual media and said that he has given complaints to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the district police chief.
"It is unlikely that party workers would paste posters against the CPI in Alappuzha. Rivals would have done this to escalate the issue," Thilothaman said.
