Thiruvananthapuram: The Communist Party of India on Monday hit back at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the State for raking up its Congress connection. The CPI pointed out that both the parties had backed the Congress at one point or the other.
On Sunday, CPI-M state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, launching a broadside at its ally over some local issues that had strained the relations, had said that the CPI still had the hangover of its past Congress connections.
CPI state secretary Panniyan Raveendran, in a sharp but sarcastic point-by-point rebuttal of Vijayan's charges, said the CPI-M leader had chosen to gloss over the fact that in more recent times the two parties had together propped up the United Progressive Alliance-I ministry led by the Congress.
“No one needs to think that we could be intimidated by raking up the past. The good Communist practice is to correct mistakes rather than clinging to them,” Raveendran said.
Citing instances of the Communists extending support to the Congress, he said it was quite unfortunate that Vijayan dragged the name of late CPI stalwart P.K. Vasudevan Nair to buttress his arguments.
Significantly, Raveendran met the media just before the Left Democratic Front state committee to discuss local issues including the bar bribe allegation against Finance Minister K.M. Mani.
Relations between the two parties have strained with CPI flaying the CPI-M for not taking initiative to launch a combined LDF agitation against Mani by taking a soft approach towards him.
The provocation for the CPI-M was Raveendran's recent statement that the lead partner of the LDF was engaging in ”adjustment agitations” instead of lining up the entire LDF to take on the United Democratic Front government.
The comment was seen as veiled attack on the party for adopting a soft approach to Mani, who heads Kerala Congress (M) which is a partner in the ruling Congress-led UDF, apparently to keep the possibility of a future alliance open.
Strongly refuting the ally's charge, Vijayan said CPI still suffered from its Congress hangover.