Panur bomb blast opens a new battlefront between CPI(M), Congress in Vadakara

The lethal country bomb explosion that killed one person and injured at least two others at Panur in Kannur district on Friday has opened a new battlefront between the ruling front and the Opposition in the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency.

It has also raised the spectre of political violence in the sensitive district and posed questions about the chilling effect the threat of violence could have on the poll process.

‘Cult of violence’

The Congress moved quickly to make hay out of the development. Congress candidate from Vadakara Shafi Parambil squarely blamed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] for the blast. He said the deceased and injured persons were CPI(M) workers and slammed the party’s “cult of violence”.

Mr. Parambil said the CPI(M) often used violence to silence voices in the political process. For one, he said, the CPI(M) allegedly planned the country bomb attack before murdering Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Kozhikode in 2012.

Flanked by K.K. Rema, MLA, wife of Chandrasekharan, Mr. Parambil staged a peace march in Panur. Ms. Rema urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to insulate the electoral process from CPI(M)’s “threat of violence”. She suggested the deployment of Central forces to maintain peace.

Mr. Parambil claimed that he had photographic evidence that testified to the suspects’ links with the CPI(M). Ms. Shailaja rubbished the accusation. She said she could not screen persons photographed with her at social functions. Moreover, the accused were not party members.

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan echoed the same line. He said some of the persons involved in the bombmaking were accused in cases relating to attacks on CPI(M) workers. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters in Alappuzha that the government took the incident seriously and that arrests and raids were on.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan demanded that the CPI(M) reveal whom the bomb makers targeted.

He said the police seemed keen to keep their motive a secret. “IED fabrication is almost a village industry in CPI(M)controlled localities in Kannur. Whenever CPI(M) bomb fabricators get injured, the party will deny its association. Surprisingly, the CPI(M) had not so far blamed Congress activists for the blast,” he added.

In Alappuzha, Congress Working Committee (CWC) member K.C. Venugopal said the CPI(M) had perfected the `art’ of making bombs.