RED SIGNAL

Shaju Philip
IN the 2004 Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the CPIM-led Left Democratic Front walked away with 18 of the state8217;s 20 seats. But they can hardly expect the coming election to be a cakewalk. A divided front, corruption charges, alienated community organisations and internal feuds in the CPIM are likely to upset the Left plan to pack a battery of MPs to Delhi.
Factionalism in the party8217;s state unit is likely to surface again when the time comes to select candidates. The party8217;s official faction, led by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, is likely to send many sitting Marxist MPs to the gallery on the ground that they belong to the rival faction led by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.
Another concern in the party is its loosening grip over the rank and file. Agitations against the party line, which came out in the open when Achuthanandan was denied the ticket to contest the Assembly election in 2006, still keep sprouting across the state.
Last year, party Central Committee member and Education Minister M.A. Baby was buttonholed at Nilambur when he attended a programme, defying the party local leadership. And two weeks ago, CPIM activists at a village in Kozhikode district waylaid party district secretary T.P. Ramakrishnan for three hours, when he reached there to meddle in the affairs of party-ruled local body to protect the interests of a faction. Recently, the party had to face an unexpected revolt when it expelled M.R. Murali, an ex-state functionary of DYFI and vice-chairman of party-ruled Shornoor municipality.
Apart from the intra-party chaos, the CPIM has still to mend its relations with the CPI. Both parties have locked horns over several critical issues. The stand-off between the state leaders of the two parties had trickled down to the lower ranks8212;in many districts the communist clashes have become routine. CITU and AITUC, the trade union wings of the CPIM and the CPI respectively, have taken different lines on issues confronting workers in the coir and plantation segments.
The CPIM8217;s relations with its other ally, the Janata Dal S, too have taken a hit. Last year, the Mathrubhoomi daily, owned by JDS state president M.P. Veerendrakumar had carried several stories exposing the Marxists, souring the relations between Pinarayi and Veerendrakumar. Though the RSP, another minor Left ally, enjoys a good rapport with CPIM, the same can8217;t be said about the Kerala Congress Joseph, which has stakes in the Christian belts of Central Kerala.
Under pressure from the Catholic Church, party chairman P.J. Joseph has been trying to sneak into the Congress-led UDF camp. In the ensuing poll, the Left is not likely to win support from prominent communities. Upper class Hindu Nairs, various Christians and Muslim organisations have been on a warpath for the last two years, mainly over Left reforms in the education sector.
In addition to all this is the anti-incumbency factor. In its two years of governance, the Left Government has done little to boast about. Political killings have revisited Kannur and other communally sensitive places in the state.
The Left8217;s contribution towards job-generating ventures has also virtually drawn a zero. Achuthanandan8217;s effort to clear Munnar hill station of encroachers ended in a fiasco after a section of his own party joined hands with the CPI, charged with churning out fake deeds to land sharks. Many such drives, which his detractors say as one-man show, had failed for want of support from the CPIM leadership.
8220;Achuthanandan failed to deliver what he had promised. This would be a major agenda of the election,8221; said a party leader.
Several leaders of the Left have come under the shadow of corruption. The CPIM itself was rocked by two corruption charges related to its mouthpiece Deshabhimani, involving senior party leaders and their close associates.
8220;Corruption charges coupled with an unholy nexus with land mafia, fake currency rackets and godmen have dented the party image. The CPIM has a track record of raising its anti-corruption stand during the electioneering. However, the next election would be different,8221; said a party leader.
What worries the Left is that even a minor change in the voting share could affect the poll outcome in a big way. In 1999, the LDF won nine seats with 43.7 per cent of the votes. In 2004, their vote share was only 46.1 per cent. But, with that three percentage swing, the front bagged 18 seats.