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Journalism of Courage
The scent of victory in the coming Assembly polls has made the CPIM blunt its sickle in Kerala and project a reformist image.
The party has made a turnaround on two issues: it dropped its opposition to the proposed expressway across the state and abandoned its agitation against Asian Development Bank ADB loans. Both were major issues in the CPIM8217;s campaign against the Congress-led United Democratic Front. Now, even its youth wing, the DYFI, has stopped the anti-ADB agitation.
Politburo member Sitaram Yechury argues that the party8217;s approach is consistent. 8216;8216;We had already outlined our position in the party congress. We were opposed to the conditions on which the loan was accepted by the UDF.8217;8217;
But the CPI is not buying the argument and there is already a tussle with Big Brother on the issue in Kerala. 8216;8216;There are conditionalities on water charges from weaker sections for installing wayside taps. The corporations should not accept these conditionalities, that is our point,8217;8217; says CPI MP C K Chandrappan.
Baby insists that the CPI8217;s charges are 8216;8216;without any substance8217;8217; and points out that the issue has been addressed by the Left-run corporations. The weaker sections will not be affected and the water charges will be met from 8216;8216;other sources,8217;8217; to which ADB officials have agreed, he says.
8216;8216;The DYFI is not against getting foreign loans for development. This is not a post-revolutionary society to decline foreign funding,8217;8217; DYFI state secretary P. Sreeramakrishnan said at a meeting on Tuesday. But the issue has driven a wedge between the Left partners. The DYFI has gone on the offensive against the CPI8217;s youth wing, the AIYF, which continues with the protests.
The CPIM8217;s new approach on the ADB loans in the run-up to the polls comes in sharp contrast with its past8212;the ADB protests were so identified with the party that it found place in cartoon strips and comedy films.
Another turnaround has been on the issue of an expressway across the state. The CPIM has been opposing the UDF government proposal, citing environmental issues. Now, again with power in sight, several CPIM MLAs have already come out, some supporting it conditionally, some unconditionally, but all pointing to a change in the stance of the leadership.
Baby finds nothing unusual in this either. He says his party had been opposed to the way the UDF had pursued the project in contravention of environmental laws. 8216;8216;But we need roads,8217;8217; he says, adding that the LDF will ensure that the implementation is transparent and the environment is not affected.
