Kerala CPM lacks unity: Vijayan

Party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan admitted here after a review meeting of the state secretariat and state committee that lack of unity in the CPM and LDF had both contributed to the failure. The alienation of the Christian community, a blatantly anti-left media and “violation of the party’s Leninist organisational policies’’ all led to the debacle.
However, while stating that the setback was serious, he refused to admit that the onus was more on his leadership and the tactics that he employed and misfired.  Though Vijayan parried questions on what these Leninist policies were or who violated them, political observers feel that Achuthanandan is the obvious target as he has been waging a war against the party line on various issues.  
He said several Christian organisations became opposed to the LDF over the self-financing college issue. “The Roman Catholic Church adopted an approach which was as emotional as its stance during the Liberation Struggle,’’ he said. The LDF government also failed to communicate its achievements to the people.
The CPM leader claimed that there was nothing wrong in the PDP supporting the LDF or his sharing a stage with Abdul Nasser Madhani. “However, the UDF which realised the benefits that the PDP could bring to the LDF carried out a campaign which created misunderstanding among LDF supporters,’’ he said in a strange assessment.  
According to reports, both the state secretariat and the state committee meetings which were attended by general secretary Prakash Karat ended up mainly as an exercise by the official faction to press for Achuthanandan’s ouster.
Members accused the CM of indiscipline and being primarily responsible for causing damage to the party’s public image.