Thiruvananthapuram: At its 23rd Party Congress beginning on Wednesday, the Kerala unit of the CPM will be pushing for an increased participation of the organisation at the national level, besides seeking a nationwide publicity campaign highlighting the achievements of the first and second Pinarayi Vijayan governments.
While the increased involvement in national politics would ensure Kerala's share from the Central government, the publicity campaign would be to win Pinarayi Vijayan a slot in the opposition leadership at the pan-India level.
"Save the LDF government in Kerala" is one of the 10 responsibilities included in the draft political resolution, meant to be presented at the Party Congress. The political organisational report, approved by the CPM central committee's previous meeting, too, had highlighted the CPM-led Left Democratic Front's continuation in power in Kerala.
Both the resolution and report were critical of the central agencies targeting the Pinarayi government. The documents — resolution and report — also lauded the party's State unit for denying BJP even the one seat it had won in the previous election.
It is not a coincidence that the State government chose Kannur to kickstart its first anniversary celebrations. CPM has been projecting the Pinarayi government as LDF's only hope and alternative to present before the nation.
The Kerala unit has also been considering Pinarayi — the only Left chief minister in the country —- as part of the national leadership in future. Kannur, Pinarayi's hometurf, is likely to prepare the ground to launch him at the national level.
Apart from the political resolution and organisational report, no other document would be presented at the 23rd Party Congress. There are also no disputes that warrant the intervention of the Party Congress.
A possible alliance with the Congress party, too, would not be discussed since that party has been decimated in the recent assembly polls in five states. The issue of alliance was taken up at the previous party congress which pitted Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat groups against each other.
Yechury, who managed to continue as the general secretary even without the support of the Kerala faction, later avoided any friction with the State leadership.
LDF govt's performance not on agenda
The Party congress at Kannur will be the first after the induction of Kerala Congress (Mani) and the Indian National League (INL) into the Left Democratic Front.
The CPM, however, is not happy with the INL, which was included in the LDF with the hope that it could breach the Muslim League fort and bring more leaders to the LDF. However, INL is not a single unit now as factionalism is rife.
CPM's Kerala unit, however, could point out that it had tried to achieve the political resolution on attracting the minorities to the LDF fold.
Meanwhile, despite bringing KC(M) and INL to the LDF camp, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Forward Bloc, part of the Left front at the national level, are still with the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala. The previous Party Congress had pointed out this 'anomaly', but nothing has changed.
The Party Congress is not likely to discuss the functioning of the Kerala government. The national meet need not consider the development policy document that was approved by the CPM's State conference.
The state unit is likely to introduce resolutions highlighting the government's demands and achievements.
