Letter of the Week

THE CPM8217;s General Secretary Prakash Karat, on the 50th anniversary of its first government in Kerala, praised then Chief Minister, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, and his good work in those days 8216;View from the Left, IE, April 4. But he blamed the church for his dismissal. This does not give us the true picture. EMS was a true friend of the poor, a true socialist communist and the only Gandhian minister in Free India. When he accepted only Rs 500 as salary and toured his state on his bicycle, he acted on Gandhi8217;s advice to serve the poor honestly. Seeing his honesty and popularity, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru panicked and wanted an end to the Kerala government. He gave up the INC presidentship and Indira Gandhi replaced him. She went to Kerala and won over the Muslim League MLAs who were supporting EMS, thus engineering the collapse of his government. Once the EMS ministry fell, the Muslim League MLAs helped to establish a Congress government in its place. The big question, is why did the communist party not give EMS a second chance to be chief minister?