PR row: Critical voices emerge in CPM state committee meeting

Thiruvananthapuram: Contrary to CPM state secretary MV Govindan’s claim that the party has expressed full confidence in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the PR agency controversy, the CPM state committee has strongly criticised the CM over the entire episode. Some leaders who spoke at the state committee meeting on Friday remarked that ‘the allegation pointing to the involvement of a PR agency in the chief minister’s interview has put both the government and the party in trouble.’ Some leaders who spoke at the meeting also questioned the credibility of CPM leader TK Devakumar’s son Subramanian and his involvement in the interview. They said such a controversy should not have happened in the first place, reminding the leadership that no one is above the party organisation. ‘If the party had arranged the interview, such a controversy would not have happened. Communalism is the biggest threat facing society at the moment. And the CPM is the only party that can defend it from the onslaught of the RSS-BJP. In this scenario, such unnecessary disturbances have damaged and tarnished the image of the government,” some members reportedly said.

A leader pointed out that the controversy has created a kind of ambiguity in the minds of the people.

“It should be suspected that some unwanted elements are trying to infiltrate the system to establish an RSS-CPM nexus,” he said.

When the debate became heated, MV Govindan intervened and cut short the discussion, saying there was no PR agency working for the government.

Meanwhile, the party document approved by the state committee on ‘Contemporary political situation and party’ stated that even though the Muslim League has adopted a stance of favouring minority extremist organisations like Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI, there is still a large section of people in the Muslim community who have an affinity towards the Left.

The state committee also decided to launch a strong campaign against the alleged nexus between the Congress and Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI The party also decided to launch a campaign to highlight the BJP-led central government’s apathy towards the state by pointing out other issues such as the delay in providing financial assistance for the Wayanad landslide disaster and the UDF’s silence on it. The CPM also decided to launch a counter campaign by reaching out to the public to project the achievements of the second Pinarayi government in various sectors, including law and order, industry, investment, health and higher education.