Left smells a conspiracy to oust govt
has Thiruvananthapuram become a Left-BJP/RSS flashpoint?
The BJP attributes it to the gro- wth of the party. “A lot of people, especially from the marginalised communities, are joining the BJP. The Left wants to stop this through intimidation and violence,” MT Ramesh, general secretary of the BJP state unit, said.
Author and social commentator Paul Zacharia agrees with this view: “I’m not surprised that Thiruvananthapuram is the latest flashpoint because the BJP has perhaps grown the quickest in Kerala in this district.”
The Left, however, sees the hand of the Centre in it. “Behind the developments in Thiruvananthapuram there is the agenda of the BJP-led central government. This is because the government in Kerala is one of the few that does not toe the Centre’s line,” says Pannyan Raveendran, CPI national executive member.
The Congress-led Opposition suspects hidden motives. “The BJP wants to conceal the (medical college) scam that has hit the party, while CPI(M) wants to hide its administrative failures,” Ramesh Chennithala, Opposition leader in the assembly, told HT.
The Left also sees a sinister plot in the Centre taking a keen interest in the state’s affair.
“Just like the Congress was scared of the Communists in 1957, the BJP is scared of the Left. In 1957, of the 14 states in India then, the Congress was in power in 13, and Kerala was the only exception. The Centre worked towards removing the Communist government and succeeded in 1959. This is indicative of what is happening now,” says Raveendran.
Raveendran’s is not a lone voice. While addressing party cadre in February, Vijayan had said that no group should keep “hopes” of destabilising his government. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury also compared the CIA’s efforts against Communist governments to that of the BJP and RSS’ to “disband” the Left government in Kerala.
Zacharia rubbishes this theory: “It’s too simplistic, predictable and an easy reason to give.”
On Monday, Vijayan met RSS and BJP leaders and to some extent, tension has reduced. “If Pinarayi and (BJP state chief) Kummanam Rajasekharan want, they can defuse the situation in an hour’s time,” says Chennithala.
All sides agree that violence is not the way ahead.
“This ‘Kolakathi Rashtreeyam’ (politics with a bloodied knife) must stop and the concerned parties must work towards it. They should control their cadre for peace to prevail,” Raveendran told HT.
The question is: Is anybody listening?