The CPI is in no mood to make peace with Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan.
The resentment that flared up in the CPI like an angry dragon after Pinarayi's utter contempt for its demand for the deputy leader post in the Assembly has now poured its fury on what the CPI believes is another of the former Chief Minister's disappointing behaviour: His patronage of 'Muslim hater' SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan.

CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam on Monday said that the forces of caste fanaticism had reared its head in Kerala. "At times, some in the Left, wittingly or unwittingly, had even felt like wanting to hold some of these forces close," Viswam said, and added: "At no stage has the CPI tried to strike a deal with such forces, and we will never." He was attending a national seminar held at the Achutha Menon Centre in Thiruvananthapuram.

If at all anyone was in doubt about his target, Viswam employed simple riddles and answered them himself to make his message clear. "Everyone in Keralam knows who is trying to fan the politics of caste fanaticism, and who is exhorting people to speak out their caste. Unfortunately, these are people who are functioning in the name of Sree Narayana Guru, who became the voice of all that was revolutionary in our society. They are trying to raise the flag of caste politics by spreading thoughts that would never be tolerated by the Guru," Viswam said.

If even this minor riddle had gone over anyone's head, Viswam came up with a zinger that was direct enough to seal all doubts. "CPI has never felt and will never feel the need to forge a bond with such people either inside a car or outside it," the CPI state secretary said, a near hilarious reference to Pinarayi's decision to arrive at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam venue last September in the company of Vellapally Natesan.

Viswam said it was Vellappally's politics of caste identity that had fanned Islamophobia. "The CPI has never attempted to whitewash such attempts," he said, again a reference to the CPM's timid response to Vellappally's bigoted comments.

But it has to be noted that when the seeming Pinarayi-Vellappally bonhomie was rewiring voter preferences, the CPI did not force the CPM to disengage with the SNDP Yogam leader the way it fought to get the PM-SHRI MoU scrapped. Before the elections, it was not even clear whether the CPI was bitter with Pinarayi for defending Vellappally. The party was largely silent.

However, Viswam's latest remarks were merely a harsher reiteration of what the CPM Central Committee report had said. Here is what the CC Report said: "Though the (CPM) state secretariat issued a statement condemning the anti-Muslim utterances of Vellappally Natesan, the review self-critically notes that it was not a strong response. The statements made by some of our leaders about this controversy also contributed towards further alienation from the people."