Kochi, 06 January(HS): The ties between the CPI(M) and its poor cousin CPI are inching towards a flashpoint as State level leaders of both the parties declared an open war against each other.

Political commentators are of the view that only a seasoned mediator could make the parties declare a ceasefire as leaders are not in a mood to abide by the coalition dharma. The CPI(M) is of the firm opinion that CPI leader Binoy Viswam is in secret parleys with the Congress about the number of seats the party would get if it defects and joins the UDF.

It all started late Monday evening as S Ajaykumar, Palakkad District Committee member of the CPI(M), fired the first salvo calling the CPI an extra luggage. “Though the CPI does not have even five per cent of votes in the State, the party leaders behave as if they are the king makers. This party will not win even a single seat in Kerala if they face the election without any alliance,” said Ajaykumar while addressing a mammoth public rally in Palakkad held as a run up to the assembly election.

Ajaykumar said the attitude of the CPI leaders is like the lizard which feels the entire weight of the roof of a building is focused on its shoulders.

“They criticize the CPI(M) ministers even as the departments headed by the CPI ministers perform poorly. This cannot go on like this and why we should work for the victory of the CPI candidates? Even if the CPI is not joining us, the CPI(M) will continue its winning trend,” said Ajaykumar.

The CPI(M) being a cadre based party, Ajaykumar would not have spoken like this without the concurrence of the party leadership.

The last two weeks saw the CPI’s Kerala secretary Binoy Viswam walking all over Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the latter’s unholy alliance with Vellapally Natesan, leader of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an umbrella organization of the politically and economically powerful Eezhava community.

The CPI fielded Sumalatha Mohandas, an old flame of the party leaders to take on Ajaykumar and she went all out firing on all six cylinders. “Ajaykumar is a mentally deranged person and the CPI(M) leadership take him immediately to a mental asylum for treatment,” charged Sumalatha, district secretary of the party, while speaking to press reporters on Tuesday.

45-year old Sumalatha is the first woman secretary of the CPI in Kerala and is considered “close” to Binoy Viswam, the all powerful State secretary. She also declared that whoever attacks Binoy Viswam would not go scot-free in the State as he is the most important leader of the global Communist movement.

The CPI(M) and CPI are engaged in a battle of nerves as Binoy Viswam does not waste a chance to personally attack Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The latest controversy is Viswam’s attack on Vellappalli Natesan, the Eezhava community leader, who is close to Vijayan. The grapevine is that the CPI is waiting for the CPI(M) to dump the former from the Left Democratic Front so that it can walk into the Congress-led UDF.

Hindusthan Samachar / Manohar Yadavatti