Sudhakaran's 'sleeper cells' may sabotage CPM's chances in land of Punnapra martyrs

Onmanorama pollmeter tracks 12 closely-fought constituencies across different phases of campaign: Nemom, Manjeshwar, Palakkad, Kunnathunad, Pala, Kottarakkara, Peravoor, Thripunithura, Ambalappuzha, Taliparamba, Payyanur and Nattika. This is the second part on Ambalappuzha (published on April 2) where Onmanorama captures emerging trends from ground-level feed. Read the first part here.

By around 10.30 pm on March 29, when the highway passing through Ambalappuzha near Bhagavathikkal Temple virtually emptied out, two CPM workers emerged from the dark and quickly covered an entire roadside wall featuring G Sudhakaran's posters with H Salam's.

Within 10 minutes, a video showing the two CPM workers burying Sudhakaran under Salam's posters appeared on innumerable WhatsApp groups in Ambalappuzha. The names of the two CPM workers were also revealed. It was a major embarrassment for the CPM.

"Sudhakaran was trying to unsettle us by telling us that he knew what we were up to. Let him go to the Election Commission. We don't care. It is downright cheap to deploy people to spy on us," said Prajith Suthan, a CPM worker in Ambalappuzha North. What Suthan did not say, and what many in Ambalappuzha believe, is that the video was furtively taken by CPM workers themselves.

Suthan's anger perhaps stems from the disorienting realisation that even party workers who work with him could be part of pro-Sudhakaran sleeper cells within the party. Sudhakaran was not just an upright Communist, he was also generous. It is said that as the minister for cooperation in V S Achuthanandan's cabinet, he had created jobs for many in the constituency.

The various educational and healthcare institutions under the Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE) that began functioning in Ambalappuzha between 2006 and 2010 -- College of Engineering & Management, Punnapra; Institute of Management & Technology (IMT), Punnapra; Sagara Super Speciality Hospital, Punnapra -- are staffed by party workers who many in Ambalappuzha say are indebted to Sudhakaran for life.

"We have deep respect for Sudhakaran sir. We are sad that he left the party but we will not speak ill of him. Now we are working for comrade Salam's victory. I have nothing more to say," said Geetha Krishnan as she hastened to join other comrades for the post-lunch squad work. She is the CPM's former member of Punnapra North's Navatharangini Vayanasala ward.

The CPM seems aware that it is staring defeat in the face. Proof: The party's district leadership recently gave a distress call to its workers in Harippad and Kuttanad constituencies to abandon their posts and rush to Ambalappuzha.

"You cannot really say that Salam is very popular in Alappuzha's CPM. But Sudhakaran's arrival has united the party like never before. The candidate is not Salam, it is CPM. We just cannot let our party fail," said Ajesh Kunjumon, a fish worker and CPM member in Purakkad.

It looks like, for the CPM, winning Ambalappuzha is far greater than even regaining power for a third time. "It will still be a defeat if we win Kerala and lose Ambalappuzha," CPM state secretary M V Govindan said at the district secretariat meeting on March 28.

Communal divisions can make it even tougher for the CPM. There is a fear within the CPM that the BJP, which had secured nearly 15 per cent of the vote share in the last two elections, could vote against Salam, who in 2021 was accused of having SDPI links.

The absence of an SDPI candidate for the first time since 2011 can also be interpreted by Hindu-minded voters as a tacit support for Salam and they, in retaliation, could vote for Sudhakaran.

Read the first part here.