Nonagenarian CPM campaign leader still crowdpuller
Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan flanked by P Rajeev and K Chandran Pillai arrives at an LDF election campaign meeting at Kalamassery near Kochi on Sunday. (Photo: DC)
Kochi: “When Bharatha visited his brother Rama in Chithrakood, one of the questions the banished king asked his brother was whether he takes good care of the Charvakas, the atheist sages,” the speaker, quoting an incident in Ramayana, explains to the audience of a few hundred about the respect the ancient Indians gave their ideological opponents.
No, he is not a religious scholar nor the audience Ram bhakts. He is P Rajeev, the local field commander of the CPM and secretary of its Ernakulam district committee, keeping the powder dry for the general, opposition leader V S Achuthanadan, to start the firing as soon as he arrives at the election campaign meeting in Kalamasserry near Kochi.
With no signs of Mr Achuthanandan appearing on the scene, Mr Rajeev hands the mike over to K Chandran Pillai, a close associate of the opposition leader in the party. The crowd, by now, has swelled to over a thousand.
A few minutes into Mr Pillai’s speech, the police pilot jeep appears on the road, followed by a Toyota Innova, carrying a party flag and donning a fancy number.
The nonagenarian leader steps out of the car and walks on to the stage even as audience ruptures into ‘inquilab zindabad’. There are also personal salutations, which are un-communist. At least in Kerala.
The former chief minister loses no time to pull the trigger. His first target is Chief Minister Oommen Chandy but soon switches over to his real prey SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan.
VS had started training his gun on his estranged country cousin the day after the latter chose to use a patronising term in the communist leader’s fight with his own comrades in the party.
Now the audience is all anticipation, and VS does not disappoint them. There is an occasional slip of names but the veteran leader is as sharp as any Indian political leader, comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a frog in the mouth of a python that is RSS. “Natesan goes to see this frog and says he got some assurance on reservation. I don’t have to tell you what its fate will be.”
Referring to Mr Natesan’s micro finance venture, Mr Achuthanandan says he checked with bank officials on the details.
“The lonees made proper repayment to Mr Natesan but when they checked the records…” he stops, and draws a circle in the air. Those in the audience and on the dais are in splits now.
The 40-minute speech done sparing none, it’s now time for him to wind up. “Now, vote for LDF, and give Chief Minister Oommen Chandy a tight slap on his right cheek,” and the audience shouts back in agreement.
As thunderous ‘lal salam’ rents the air, the leader boards the vehicle, to attend another meeting.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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