THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state unit of CPM appears to be relieved over the central committee decision to reject its West Bengal counterpart's proposal for an electoral alliance with the Congress in that state.
The Kerala leaders had vehemently opposed any alliance with Congress as such an open electoral tie up would have adversely affected its poll prospects in the state.
Even though CPM had supported Congress led UPA 1 government at the Centre and Somnath Chatterji had even become Speaker with their help, it believes the situation has changed drastically since then.
CPM sources said after Narendra Modi Government came to power, the BJP national leadership led by Amit Shah was desperate to make its presence felt in Kerala.
The attempts made by Sangh Parivar to hijack SNDP using Vellapally Natesan and its decision to appoint Hindu Aikya Vedi leader Kummanam Rajashekharan as state president, were part of the strategy to weaken the CPM and consolidate its base among the majority community.
It is in this backdrop that the CPM state unit opposed an alliance with Congress in Bengal since such a decision would have given the BJP a major campaign issue.
Moreover, a proper alliance would have meant not just sharing of seats, but common manifesto and sharing of stage. This would have put the state CPM in a tight spot especially at a time when the party is expecting to do well in the coming polls.
Even while announcing the central committee decision to seek cooperation of all democratic forces, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury didn't name Congress. This clearly indicated that the CPM is quite cautious about its moves connected with the Congress.
