By our special Political Correspondent
Thrissur, June 21 (IVC) It was the opinion of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M) leaders, who pleaded anonymity, that there was no need of post-poll stocktaking exercise for the party had a miserable defeat, for winning only one seat out of a total of 20 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha elections, the results of which were declared on June 04.
They said that the four day stocktaking exercise in the presence of CPI(M) All-India Secretary, Sitaram Yechury and Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat , held in Thiruvananthapuram was a waste of time and money as the thief is in the ship itself.
It was the time for the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to relinquish the Chief Minister ship of Kerala and entrust with another efficient leader of the party by guiding with his vast experience.
It would be the right thing to do for him for the growth of the party, they said. The miserable failure of the party was due to the arrogant style of functioning the Chief Minister throughout his second term of office.
All ministers of his cabinet are sycophants and nobody was ready to express his/her real and true opinion in front of the chief minister.
The chief minister, it is alleged, muzzled all the leaders of the party and the rank and file , who dared to speak against him. The decisions taken by the ministers of cabinet, not only CPIM Ministers and also other party’s minsters, were compelled to take prior approval of the Chief Minister . It ran counter to the healthy democracy and the principle of the collective responsibility which led to the miserable defeat of the party in the 18 th Lok Sabha Elections.
According to media reports, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) had insisted on Pinarayi Vijayan to include at least Ms K K Sheilaja Teacher in the cabinet of his second term as her performance in his first cabinet was excellent. Pinarayi defied the directive of the Polit Bureau on the ground that it was his prerogative to select his ministers and Polit Bureau has nothing to do with.
Leaders of the CPI(M) tell the press, on anonymity, that the style of functioning the Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan has harmed the party to a great extent .
There was complete breakdown of law and order in the State. They pointed out that killing of Veterinary University Student by Students Federation of India (SFI) activists calling him back to the University who was on his way home and beaten him to death. The crime was brutal and intolerable and LDF Government did not take proper action in the matter.
The salaries of the Government employees , service pension and welfare pensions were not paid on time and properly.
The attitude of the Governments towards media was negative and sometimes insulting too. The Government had declared on the floor assembly to Journalists’ an increase of Rs 1000 from the existing Rs 10,000 In their pension . It was shrank to Rs 500 i.e. Rs 10,500 at the time of paying. Though the journalists union had made several requests demanding the increase of Rs 1000 as announced in the assembly, no response either negative or positive from the Government. Now the CPI(M) found as one of the reasons for the miserable defeat of the party in Lok Sabha elections was that the media was against it. It was cry over the split milk.
The LDF Government in Kerala found pleasure in accusing the Central Government for the financial stringency in the State. At the same time, the lavish expenses and life of ministers including the Chief Minister and MLAs went on unabated.
The politically conscious and literate people of Kerala did not take kindly accusing of the Central Government for the profligacy of the LDF Government in Kerala. The party leaders who wanted Pinarayi Vijayan to quit say that nobody was dare enough to say the wrongs committed by Vijayan as wrongs.
This is the only way at this juncture for the party to force Pinarayi Vijayan to relinquish the post of the chief Minster to avoid ‘personality cult” and “Stalinism “ in the Communist party in Kerala.
The serious problem in the CPI() here was that nobody wants to displease the Chief Minister telling truth and gain a place in his bad book. If the Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan did not quit, the party’s fate in Kerala would also be that of the West Bengal.
