Can CPI poll 5,000 votes on its own in Keralam, asks CPI(M) State secretariat member C.N. Mohanan

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As the feud within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) over the post of Deputy Leader of Opposition rocks the alliance, CPI(M) State secretariat member C.N. Mohanan has hauled the CPI over the coals for trying to single out and attack the Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan.

He questioned the CPI’s political strength and asked in how many Assembly seats the party would poll at least 5,000 votes on its own. He accused the CPI of resorting to pressure tactics and embarrassing the CPI(M) every now and then.

“This is what the CPI did when it attacked the Left government from within on the issue of PM SHRI and the embarrassment it caused was among the reasons for the Left Front’s poll debacle,” Mr. Mohanan said.

He also contested the CPI’s claim of taking the first steps to form the LDF. During the local body elections of 1979, the CPI was in alliance with the Congress, and this alliance was defeated by the Left Front, he argued. He asked the CPI why it took the party a year to leave the alliance with the Congress after its 1978 Bhatinda Party Congress had decided to do so.

Mr. Mohanan’s jibe was in the wake of CPI assistant secretary Sathyan Mokeri writing a piece critical of Mr. Vijayan’s stance on the Dy LoP post in his column in the party mouthpiece Janayugam early this week.

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