Refusing to yield ground in its battle for the Deputy Leader of Opposition post, the CPI has decided to escalate the issue to the national leaderships of both the CPI and the CPM.

The CPI State Secretariat, which met here on Thursday, maintained that the post rightfully belongs to the party and that it should not retreat from the claim under any circumstances. As part of the move, CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam will hold discussions with CPM general secretary M A Baby and CPI general secretary D Raja. The decision comes even as CPM state secretary M V Govindan rejected the CPI's demand once again on Thursday.

The CPI Secretariat also dismissed the CPM's contention that both the Leader of the Opposition and Deputy Leader of the Opposition posts have traditionally been held by it, asserting that no such convention exists within the LDF. To buttress its argument, the CPI pointed out that during the tenure of E K Nayanar as chief minister, senior CPI leader E Chandrasekharan Nair served as the unofficial second in command in the cabinet.

It further contended that the appointment of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as Deputy Leader of the Opposition when V S Achuthanandan served as Opposition leader was driven by the CPM's internal political considerations and therefore could not be cited as an LDF convention.

The Secretariat meeting reflected a strong sentiment that the party could not afford to compromise its self-respect on the issue. Some members even suggested that if the CPM remained unwilling to accommodate the demand, the CPI should consider functioning as a separate bloc in the Assembly.

However, the party decided against any immediate escalation. Instead, it resolved to stay away from meetings of the LDF Parliamentary Party for the time being while continuing to function collectively as part of the opposition in the Assembly.

The meeting also saw criticism from some quarters that Binoy Viswam should not have publicly raised the demand for the Deputy Leader's post. Even those who voiced such concerns, however, agreed that the party now had little option but to stand firm and avoid losing face.

Responding to the criticism, Binoy said he saw nothing improper in publicly articulating the party's position when asked by the media. ``CPI's stand remains unchanged. Conventions are bound to change. The LDF is not a single party. The CPM and CPI will continue to move forward together," he said.