The 2006 Assembly election in Kerala was historical of sorts for the Communist Party of India (Marxist). For the first time, the CPM, which flaunts its organisational structure based on the Leninist principle of democratic centralism, was forced to change its decision of not fielding VS Achuthanandan, a founding member of the party, as a candidate in the polls.
The decision against ‘VS’ evoked a sharp response from party cadres and well-wishers, forcing the party to reverse the decision. The indomitable Achuthanandan went on to become the chief minister of Kerala against the wishes of his rival, the man who is now in command of the party and government, Pinarayi Vijayan.
The hue and cry on excluding K K Shailaja from the council of ministers is reminiscent of the ‘VS’ episode of 2006. Unlike in 2006, critics this time have taken to social media rather than the streets to vent their anger against dropping the hugely popular health minister.
Sidelining Shailaja, according to these critics, lays bare the inherent patriarchy within the CPI(M). Dropping Shailaja from the new cabinet is the latest of several surprises from the CPI(M) after the election process started. Many well-wishers of the Left had raised eyebrows when they did not find some of the prominent ministers in the list of party’s candidates for the Assembly polls.
The party denied tickets to all who had contested two consecutive elections. With the two-term criteria strictly applied, the party dropped experienced central committee members and ministers in the outgoing cabinet, including Thomas Isaac, EP Jayarajan, and popular minister G Sudhakaran.
Coming as did at a time when the Left was battling to defend its only remaining fortress in the country, some thought this adherence to principles smacked of dogmatism of another kind. But the party leadership did not heed the seemingly pragmatic advice given by its well-wishers. As the results showed later, the experiment of fielding new faces caught the imagination of the general public and a Left government was voted again with an increased margin.
Except for the Captain, as Vijayan is called by his fans nowadays, all the members of the CPM and CPI in the cabinet are new faces. There were reports that an exception could be made for Shailaja, a reward for what her admirers believe was her “stupendous performance” in the outgoing cabinet. But communist parties always have a different rule book to follow, where it is the collective will that prevails and individuals are merely persons employed to execute party policies.
Those who demand a second term for Shailaja in the Vijayan cabinet base their argument on two counts. First, the Left Front government got a second term because of the exemplary work carried out by Shailaja. Second, excluding Shailaja speaks volumes about patriarchy within the CPIM.
Let us take a closer look at these arguments.
Those who argue for Shailaja point to her leading from the front in crisis after crisis to have gripped Kerala. Be it Nipah or Covid, Shailaja's humane approach instilled confidence in the people.
There is no denying that Shailaja's affable approach and her efficient leadership helped Kerala, but it would be an exaggeration to say that Kerala managed the Covid crisis only because of her leadership.
Kerala indeed controlled the virus spread effectively during the initial period. But the situation deteriorated subsequently. With wide coverage in the international press, Kerala was prematurely celebrating victory over coronavirus.
Kerala still has one of the highest test positivity rates and daily cases in the country. Kerala is still fighting corona along with the rest of the country. What helped Kerala during the lockdown periods was a host of welfare measures undertaken by the state government.
Unlike the Narendra Modi dispensation at the Centre, the Left government in Kerala ensured that not a single person starved in the state during the lockdown period. The administration also provided succour to people struggling to cope up with the crisis. So, more than any individual effort, it was the welfare politics pursued by the Left government that enabled them to rewrite history by coming back to power for the first time in Kerala's recent history.
Like all other major political parties, patriarchy is ingrained in the structure of the communist parties too. This is reflected in the scarce representation that women have in the party structure. This stems from the Marxist approach of giving predominance to class while analysing society. Mechanical adherence to class politics makes them assume that class could assimilate all other identities, be it caste or gender.
Having said that, attributing patriarchy as the reason for the non-inclusion of Shailaja in the cabinet is stretching the argument. Women representation is a much more serious issue than the inclusion of a particular individual in the cabinet. In the newly elected Kerala assembly, women representation is just 11 out of the total 140 MLAs. Remember Kerala has more women than men.
Those reducing the issue to the treatment meted out to Shailaja are missing the woods for the trees. They are either ignorant or are not worried about the under-representation of backwards and Dalits in the cabinet. There is only one Scheduled Caste (SC) member in the cabinet and none from the Scheduled Tribe (ST).
Of the 12-members of the CPM in the cabinet, five are from the Nair community. Three out of four from CPI are also from the same community. While the forward communities are over-represented, the Dalits and OBCs, other than Ezhavas, are not adequately represented. In a caste-ridden society, representation of different social sections in the higher echelons of power holds the key in the fight for social justice. Caste, as BR Ambedkar said, is an enclosed class. But apart from its occasional rhetoric on caste, the mainstream Left in India never cared to address the issue seriously. How the depressed classes are under-represented in the new cabinet is another testimony to this.
But there is not much discussion among the general public on this shows that our social justice rant is in fact hyperbole. There is no denying that Kerala CPM is preparing for a generational change. The experience of their Bengal comrades must have pushed them to do this. For the communists, at least in theory, the parliamentary route is not the only form of action. When the CPM’s organisational conferences for electing new committees begin later this year, let us hope that leaders like Shailaja, who have good experience in parliamentary politics, are given new organisational responsibilities.
An all-new cabinet is a correct step. That the party did not consider the issue of representation seriously would have a debilitating effect in its forward march.
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