THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The bid of the CPM to reinvent its caste-free and religion-free image is part of a strategy framed by the four-day session of state secretariat and state committee. The strategy, sources say, is to present the CPM-led LDF as a perfect alternative to the Congress-led UDF which is being controlled by caste and communal forces. ‘’We have found out a unique selling proposition (USP) for the LDF as demanded by the present socio-political situation. There is a widespread resentment among the people of Kerala over the way how things are done in the UDF. Even Ministers are decided by communal and casteist forces,’’ said a CPM leader. Majority of state committee members who took part in the post-poll debate wanted the LDF to model the 1987 version of the Front. Led by late EMS Namboodirippad, the LDF then challenged the secular credentials of K Karunakaran-led UDF. Without the support of communal and casteist organisations, the LDF then went on to snatch power from the UDF. ‘’We found the fight in this election almost similar to the one in 1987. With Kerala Congress (Joseph) switching over and the party getting rid of the Madhani baggage, the LDF had undergone an image makeover,’’ said a source. The state panel meeting of the CPM decided to take issue-based stands to attack the caste/communal appeasement policies of the UDF Government. While briefing the media after the debate, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at the NSS and the SNDP. Pinarayi Vijayan posed a question to the civil society whether such a trend of caste/communal organisations interfering in politics needs to be encouraged. He also attacked certain Muslim and Christian organisations too for joining hands with the UDF to sabotage the poll prospects of the LDF. ‘’It may not be a long-term strategy. The CPM just wants to cash in on the present political situation. That is why it took a strong position against caste/communal elements when the UDF is paying heed to all their demands,’’ said political scientist G Gopakumar. According to him, the future of this strategy will depend on the decisions the new government is going to take. ‘’If the UDF Government can bring a balance between various sections through its acts, this strategy may not work out,’’ he said. There are sceptics even within the CPM who find serious ideological differences between the EMS’s strategy in ’87 and the present strategy. ‘’In 1987, the stage for a secular front was slowly being built. The All-India Muslim League was shown the door well ahead of the election and Kerala Congress (Joseph) was told to wait,’’ said a CPM leader. Gopakumar pointed out the positions taken by the CPM in Uniform Civil Code issue, Shah Banu case and Mary Roy case in the run up to ’87 poll. ‘’In these issues, the stand of the CPM was clear and against the positions taken by Muslim and Christian communities,’’ he said. With opportunistic alliance turning out to be the rule of the day and the CPM is still being haunted by the ghosts of past alliance with the PDP and Janapaksham, it remains to be seen how effective the new strategy will be.
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