Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 24 (SocialNews.XYZ) Things are heating up within Kerala's CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front, with its second largest constituent, the CPI, on Monday hardening its stand against alliance Chairman and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the unresolved demand for the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
CPI General Secretary D. Raja has now entered the fray, making it clear that Vijayan cannot afford to ignore the concerns of the alliance partners and must be prepared to accommodate their demands.
Raja’s intervention assumes significance because the dispute over the Deputy Leader’s post, which began as a disagreement between the CPI-M and the CPI, has increasingly spilled into the public domain.
The CPI leadership is now preparing to take up Vijayan’s public position before the LDF leadership, despite the matter being part of bilateral discussions between the two parties.
The development marks a significant escalation in what has so far been an unusually public display of differences between the two principal Left parties.
The CPI has been demanding the Deputy Leader’s post for its state Secretary Binoy Viswam.
The demand has been repeatedly articulated in public by Viswam. Vijayan, however, has rejected it point blank, saying that the demand cannot be accepted.
The dispute flared up once again after Vijayan publicly disclosed that the CPI had submitted a letter regarding the post.
Viswam responded sharply, arguing that the demand was appropriate for the position and that the former Chief Minister should demonstrate greater maturity.
Raja’s intervention now gives the CPI’s position a national dimension.
What makes the confrontation particularly uncomfortable for the LDF is that the dispute is no longer confined to the two largest constituents.
Other alliance partners are also understood to be unhappy with the continuing deadlock and the manner in which the issue has been handled.
With the government completing its first 100 days, the disagreement over the Deputy Leader’s post has also begun to acquire a larger political significance.
The lack of coordination in the Opposition’s activities is increasingly being cited as one of the consequences of the unresolved dispute.
The CPI state leadership is now preparing to take a tougher position against Vijayan in his capacity as LDF Chairman.
At the same time, it is looking towards intervention by the national leaderships of the Left parties to break the deadlock.
The timing could hardly be more politically sensitive.
The Left has already suffered a major electoral setback, and the new government’s first 100 days have been marked by internal differences that have increasingly become public.
The Deputy Leader’s post may appear, on the surface, to be a question of political protocol.
But the escalating war of words suggests that the real issue is who gets to call the shots within the LDF.
And with Raja now openly telling Vijayan to accommodate the allies, the CPI appears to be signalling that it is no longer willing to remain a silent junior partner in a front all along dominated by the CPI-M.
Source: IANS
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