CPIM in cold sweat of implosion

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest party of the Left Democratic Front that has been in power in the state over 8 years alongside being the prominent of the Left parties in the nation, is in the throes of factionalism, implosion, expulsion and resignation of leaders, grabbing media attention. Party Secretary M.V. Govinda's explanation of the development as minor local issues is too weak to convince even his party’s rank and file. The justification that everything is anti-party propaganda by the bourgeois media is also futile. The decision by the Kollam district secretariat meeting, presided over by Govindan himself, to dissolve the Karunagappally CPM Area Committee over factionalism, was not taken after reading about the issue in the newspaper. The protest march took out by party workers including women holding placards in the stronghold, Karunagapally, virtually shocked the leadership. Subsequently, dissolving the area committee an ad hoc committee was put in place. The main slogan heard at the protest was save the party from robbers. Following severe factionalism in Mangalapuram in Thiruvananthapuram, former Area Secretary Madhu Mullassery and his family have joined the BJP. In another incident, the local secretary of Tiruvalla Town North was removed. Also, the party rebels at Kozjanjampara, Palakkad, held a special convention and opened the party office. Given the situation, it remains to be seen where the internal issues will take the party to by the time the district conferences and then the state conferences are over.

It goes without saying the Marxist party is a cadre-based party that maintains strict system and discipline unlike other parties which communists call bourgeois parties. Cadre parties of totalitarian nature can also split if ideological and policy differences flare up. Following a rift in the international communist movement, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China positioned themselves in opposite directions causing world communist parties to part their ways and fight with each other was a major development in the second half of last century. Its resonance was felt in India too with the CPI got split right in the middle, forming the CPIM and later some breakaways forming the CPI (Marxist-Leninist); all these were due to ideological or policy differences. Understandably, all these three parties have now joined the same front due to national circumstances. The groups led by Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan in the CPM Kerala unit can be attributed to an extent to reflection of policy positions. Not even the party’s biggest sympathizers will argue that the disunity and sectarianism underway in the second term of the Pinarayi government is due to policy or ideological differences.

What then? The decadence, corruption and nepotism that plagued the party earlier is devouring it in the second term of the administration, exacerbating factionalism. The stark truth is that the CPM has sunk into a state of decadence that often has no examples even in bourgeois parties, resulting into competition for power, insatiable appetite for positions, insistence on making money no matter through immoral means, and competition to install relatives and friends in responsible positions and power centers. Although not technically a party member, MLA P.V. Anwar who equally positioned himself in both the party and government raised accusations against Chief Minister whom he had greatly respected, which the people tend to believe leaving aside his harsh expressions like ‘The sun that was put out’ . Also, the chief minister’s office chief previously faced party’s disciplinary action. It is interesting to note the factional issues now the party faces involve plenty of financial manipulations and sexual accusations. If this phenomenon evolves into a cancer that eats away the whole party, then the CPM will face a complete collapse like in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Indonesia and West Bengal in India. The Central Committee’s report following failure in the Lok Sabha polls vainly pointed to the wrong trends in the party. At the same time, those leaving the CPM joining the BJP could pose a significant threat not only to the Left wing but also to the entire secular democratic platforms.