Kannur (Kerala), Aug 31 (IANS) As the CPI(M) grapples with the unprecedented loss of two of its traditional strongholds in Kannur, the party has increasingly turned to historical symbolism to describe the rebels whom it thinks played a key role in its electoral setback.
In Payyannur, rebel-turned-MLA V. Kunhikrishnan has been likened to Mir Jafar, while in Taliparamba, former CPI(M) leader and now MLA T.K. Govindan has been branded "Brutus", a reference to Julius Caesar's betrayer.
The sharp rhetoric came to the fore over the weekend, beginning with a major political meeting addressed by Kerala Chief Minister and senior CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, his first public appearance after the party's shock Assembly election defeat. At the meeting, Vijayan accused Kunhikrishnan of working against the interests of the party instead of strengthening it.
A day later on Sunday, the focus shifted to Taliparamba, where Govindan came under attack. While Vijayan again criticised the rebel MLA, Kannur district secretary K.K. Ragesh intensified the attack by describing Govindan as the "Brutus of Taliparamba".
The back-to-back meetings have underscored a party still battling the fallout of internal rebellion, even as the victories of the two former functionaries have demonstrated that the CPI(M)'s organisational dominance in its traditional Kannur bastions is no longer beyond challenge.
The party's Central Committee, in its review of the Assembly election debacle, pointed to organisational shortcomings and flaws in candidate selection. However, the public attacks on the two rebels have reignited debate over whether the party is focusing on individuals rather than addressing deeper structural issues.
Attention is now turning to the extended state committee meeting scheduled in Kozhikode in September, which is expected to be crucial for both the Kerala unit and the CPI(M) nationally. With the party's influence steadily shrinking across the country, the meeting is likely to come under close scrutiny.
All eyes will be on General Secretary M.A. Baby and other Politburo leaders who are expected to attend the meeting. The gathering may indicate whether the party intends to move beyond identifying individual scapegoats and examine the broader reasons behind its decline.
Political commentator Prof. M.N. Karassery said the party's reliance on historical analogies itself reflects the nature of the crisis confronting it. "While the CPI(M) is calling Kunhikrishnan a Mir Jaffar and Govindan a Brutus, it is surprising that the party is not examining its own history in West Bengal and Tripura," Karassery observed.
His remarks carry a wider political message. The CPI(M) ruled West Bengal and Tripura for decades before losing power amid organisational erosion, voter alienation and changing political realities.
In Kannur, the central question remains whether Kunhikrishnan and Govindan are merely symbols of betrayal or indicators of a deeper crisis within a party that long believed its organisational strength could withstand internal dissent. The Kozhikode meeting may offer the first clues to that answer.
--IANS
sg/skp
