Thiruvananthapuram: CPM’s tallest leader V S Achuthanandan visit to party’s strongest bastions in the state Kannur, for the first time in a span of two years, has generated lot of excitement among party workers.
The visit gains significance as it comes close on the heels of the of RSS leader’s murder in Kathirur which has put the party on the defensive yet again after the brutal hacking of RMP leader T P Chandrashekharan in 2012.
Achuthanandan who is visiting Kannur following huge demand from the workers at the grass-roots level, will inaugurate the CPM office in Aralam on September 18.
With reports of many lower rung CPM workers and sympathisers crossing over to RSS and BJP especially after Modi came to power, a worried Marxist leadership is desperate to check the trend. The local bodies poll are less than a year later and CPM does not want to take any chances.
Many believe the visit of a leader of Achuthanandan’s stature will boost the confidence of workers.
Though the veteran leader’s strident opposition to “politics of murder” which was witnessed during TPC issue, has often been interpreted by a section of Kannur leaders as “anti party”, many workers across the state find his approach much in sync with Prakash Karat’s “famed” remark – our party believes in defeating opponents ideologically, not physically.
Perhaps this is the message that central leadership wants to send across to the cadre through the veteran’s visit.
Achuthanandan’s visited Kannur last when he called on ailing Berlin Kunhananthan Nair, who was then CPM’s 'persona non grata.’
Subsequently, serious differences over TPC murder, Lavalin case and Dange remark against Pinarayi, kept him away from Marxist citadel.
Even during Lok Sabha poll campaign, barring Ponnani, he skipped all constituencies in Malabar. The district committee used to prefer Karat, Brinda and SRP.
Clearly, there is huge anticipation among party workers over VS’s forthcoming visit.
