CPM & CPI state conferences begin; both parties hurl criticisms at each other

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/KOCHI: 'Give me Red', appears to be the slogan in Kerala's southern tip this week as the state conferences of the CPM and CPI began on Tuesday, but the slogan is not all about Red parties having a roaring time in the state. Instead, the two Left parties have been hurling criticism at each other on topics as diverse as Christ, communism and a capitalist style of organizing party meetings.

Red flags went up in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam on Tuesday, marking the launches of the state conferences of the CPM and CPI respectively, but the two parties have also been waving red flags at each other, never mind their loss of power in the state last year to the Congress-led United Democratic Front by a whisker.

The latest disagreements between the two parties were triggered by the CPI state secretary CK Chandrappan, a leader known for his sober manner. Chandrappan openly aired his disapproval of the CPM allegedly roping in event managers for its state conference.

The state secretary's strong comments were endorsed by CPI's general secretary AB Bardhan, who said Chandrappan's comments were the party's, too. However, Bardhan said the party would examine the comment about CPM's state conference organised by event managers.

CPM's former minister M Vijayakumar thundered at the opening session of the party state conference, "Is Chandrappan with the Left front or following right wing ideology?" He said Chandrappan's allegation was deplorable and that it would only help those opposed to Left ideologies.

The two Left parties have also been at each other over the past week, over a hoarding displayed in different parts of Thiruvananthapuram, which was a take-off on Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, and featuring Barack Obama in place of Jesus and global, national and Kerala leaders as the disciples to Jesus's left and right.

The caption explained the spoof on Last Supper as the last supper of capitalism. The Catholic Church in Kerala was enraged about the hoarding and different churches carried out protest marches on the streets, prompting a firefighting act by senior CPM leaders to explain that Christ was also a martyr and supported the cause of the oppressed.