Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran appeared to have cracked the whip on party workers suspected of cosying up to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leadership.
Mr. Sudhakaran told reporters in Kozhikode on Sunday that he had counselled Sasi Tharoor, MP, to disregard the CPI(M)'s invite to attend a seminar in connection with the upcoming 23rd party congress in Kannur.
Workers will feel cross
By some accounts, Mr. Sudhakaran felt the party's rank and file would feel cross if they saw Congress leaders sharing space with CPI(M) apparatchiks. Such fraternising could blunt the United Democratic Front's (UDF) struggle against the "economically, socially and environmentally" unviable semi-high speed railway project and inadvertently advantage Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's political agenda.
It could also make Congress's impassioned stance against SilverLine look hollow. Scores of Congress workers caught up in police cases registered in connection with the anti-SilverLine campaign would feel backstabbed. Congress leaders consorting with the CPI(M) would lend credibility to the propaganda that they secretly endorsed the government's development agenda.
Engineering defections
Moreover, the KPCC feared that the CPI(M) 's "overtures" to workers concealed a design to engineer more defections from the Congress. Several Congress persons had recently deserted the party for the CPI(M).
Mr. Sudhakaran said the KPCC was against workers attending CPI(M)-sponsored functions. For one, it could retard the momentum of the growing anti-government movement.
By some accounts, the CPI(M) had also invited Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and K.V. Thomas to attend party congress seminars. Both the leaders have not publicly commented on the topic. Notably, Mr. Chennithala appeared to distance himself from the CPI(M)‘s alleged advances by launching a broadside against the government’s move to engage a “black listed” international consultancy to study SilverLine’s viability. He alleged the contract smacked of big ticket corruption.
Tharoor’s stance
A KPCC office-bearer claimed Dr. Tharoor felt civic debate and ideological clashes lay at the heart of a vibrant democracy. Ideally, the KPCC should not frown on political debates.
Dr. Tharoor also reportedly claimed that he would appeal to the party high command against any decision to prohibit his attendance at the seminar.
Mr. Sudhakaran also said Congress national president Sonia Gandhi would decide the matter.
