The Hindu : KPCC sets election agenda

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 17, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

KPCC sets election agenda

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 16 . With the Congress high command putting the lid on infighting in the party, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) today set its election agenda for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The party would adopt a twin strategy for the elections. It would be based on a strong anti-Communist Party of India (Marxist) platform. The Congress plans to exhort voters to elect Congress candidates to help the party notch up the requisite numbers to become the largest party in the Lok Sabha in a coalition set-up.

Dropping hints about the Congress party's strategies, the official spokesman of the KPCC, M.I. Shanavaz, said at a press conference here today, that the Congress campaign would focus on the futility of voting for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), which would not be in a position to form a Government at the Centre with the 30-odd seats it would win in the Lok Sabha elections. Except for Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had succeeded in establishing a secular front, which would fight the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance. He hoped that the people of Kerala, including those belonging to the minority communities, would weigh the relative strengths of the Congress and the LDF while casting their votes.

He said that the prospects of the Congress-led UDF winning more seats in the Lok Sabha had brightened with the restoration of unity in the party. The party would also take advantage of the schism in the CPI(M) that was facing one of its `worst crises in its history', he added.

Mr. Shanavaz said that the Marxists in Kerala were caught in the warp of classical Marxism. After the CPI(M) came into being in 1964, the party had thrown out many leaders, not on ideological grounds but to pursue personal vendettas. The expulsion of party ideologue, M.P. Parameshwaran, amounted to releasing a genie from the bottle as the CPI(M) had left unanswered several questions that he had raised.

He alleged that the CPI(M) rank and file were totally confused by the ideological tussle in the party. The CPI(M) has now expressed its suspicion about foreign assistance, but at the same time it had failed to answer the issues raised by the Padom magazine. He questioned the claims of the CPI(M) State secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, that the Mararikulam project, promoted by Thomas Isaac, MLA, was Centrally-funded. According to the figures available, the project was assisted by the Central Government to the extent of Rs 8.49 crores, with additional finance being made available under the MPs and MLAs fund. In addition to this, the Mararikulam document mentions that other funding agencies would meet 6.2 per cent of the project costs. The onus was on the CPI(M) to explain which were the other funding agencies, Mr. Shanavaz said and added that several senior CPI(M) leaders such as M.A. Baby and P. Govinda Pillai had come under fire for their "deviations" from Marxist precepts.

The KPCC spokesman said that the CPI(M)'s recent agitations were a total failure. "The CPI(M) has come to a situation where it is unable to even organise an agitation. The party, which thought it could gain power through the backdoor, is now disappointed at the restoration of unity in the Congress," he said.

Asked about Mr. Karunakaran's statements opposing the `unity formula', Mr. Shanavaz said that he saw the senior leader's recent statements (that he would not split the party) as "positive". None of the senior leaders had opposed the party high command. Admittedly, there were disputes on some issues. More disputes were likely to surface in the coming days. But once a final decision was taken, all factions would sink their differences and face the elections, he added.

Replying to a question, Mr. Shanavaz said that the `unity formula' announced by the high command was the only way to solve the crisis in the State unit of the party. He admitted that the performance of the Antony Government would also come up for review during the elections. "But we are confident on this score because the Government's performance has been good," he claimed.

He said that the party had lost the Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat because of a peculiar situation that had prevailed then, including the issue of the rehabilitation at Marad. But in a general election, in which the BJP-led alliance is the main opposition, the people, including minority communities, would favour the Congress, he said.

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