The Kerala unit of the CPM has left the weighty issues of cobbling up a Left-Secular Front to isolate and defeat the BJP to its central unit. Pushing through SilverLine, tentatively estimated at Rs 64,000 crore, seems to be the Kerala CPM's sole political mission.
At the conclusion of the 23rd Party Congress, Sitaram Yechury who was elected as the general secretary for the third time enunciated the party's national plans. But the party's two biggest leaders in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, spend their time before the mike arguing for the SilverLine. The BJP's divisive politics, which had charged up other-state CPM leaders, Kerala leaders had no time for.
They were so engrossed in their semi high speed dreams that even the bold things that the LDF government had done, like passing the first ever Assembly resolution against the Citizenship Amendment Act, was left to other comrades like Brinda Karat to articulate.
There was nothing new in what the Kerala leaders said about SilverLine but the manner in which they made their points, especially the chief minister, demonstrated a renewed vigour to go ahead with the project. There was speculation that the Party Congress would force some introspection in the Kerala unit about SilverLine. Even the Congress party's belief that K V Thomas would not take part in the CPM seminar could not have been more wrong.
“This Party Congress has given us the mandate to go ahead without any fear,” Pinarayi Vijayan said, concluding his presidential address. "Don't try to scare us with your cheap tricks," he added.
The chief minister pushed for the semi high speed rail by flaunting his report card. He listed the LDF government's achievements one by one. Widening of the national Highway. Laying of the GAIL Pipeline. Drawing of the Edamon-Kochi power highway.
After elaborating on an achievement, he would ask: “Was it wrong that we got it completed. Was it right that the previous UDF government did nothing about it.” He also spoke of the transformation of the general education and health sectors. And then he spoke of the waterway from Bekal to Kovalam and asked whether it was wrong for the LDF government to speed up its completion.
“Change is happening everywhere in this land. Is this wrong,” the chief minister asked.
K-Rail he said was part of this change. He said the UDF did not want the project to materialise during the LDF tenure. “They can have high speed rail but LDF cannot implement a semi high speed rail,” the chief minister said, trying to expose the hypocrisy of the UDF. His reference was to the high speed rail that was mooted during the previous UDF regime. However, the UDF leaders had clarified in the Assembly that the project was done after a feasibility study revealed that it was unsuited to Kerala.
The chief minister also expressed confidence that the Centre would grant its approval for the K-Rail project. He even subtly hinted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was confident of his administrative acumen. “During my meeting with the prime minister, I told him about an AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) in Kerala. He said many states that had been sanctioned an AIIMS had not completed it. I then told him to grant Kerala one and see for himself. He then told me he knew we would get it done,” Vijayan said.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan attempted to portray the opposition to the K-Rail project as an attack on the public sector. “They are trying to block a project coming in the public sector. They would not have had a problem had this project been implemented by the Tatas or Ambanis.” the state secretary said.
Both the leaders, as has become the habit for the CPM, reserved their harshest criticism for the media, which they blamed for taking sides and scuttling development.
