Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leaders have started talking about an alliance with archrival CPM in the state, and none other than KPCC chief Mullappally Ramachandran triggered the debate.
Earlier A. K. Antony, though he had a bitter experience four decades back, mooted the ideas, but it enthused none.
Taking a leaf out of Rahul Gandhi-Sitaram Yechury bonhomie that cleared the Bengal model, Mr Ramachandran decided to toe the line.
After the politburo meeting in New Delhi, CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan made his party's stance categorically clear against any alliance with the Congress in its last, though shaky, bastion.
Marxist critic K. Venu said such an alliance was "on the anvil" just because of the electoral politics which would be temporary.
"The current move is just because of Lok Sabha elections where the situation is that there is an ideological difference," he told DC.
"Unfortunately, the fronts are not giving priority to practical politics. It should be recalled that during the Emergency, the then CPI movement had supported it where it took a while for them to correct their stand."
At the same time, he said, it should also be recalled that CPI's founder S. A. Dange was removed from the party as the majority of the rank and file were against his political line of supporting the Congress and the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi.
Mr Venu also added that even now the State CPI leadership is keen on rallying behind the Congress.
It was during the Chengannur by-election last May that Mr Antony had said that Congress party should join hands with other secular forces in the country to oppose and fight the BJP. But it didn't work out.
Mr Ramachandran, while talking to reporters in Manjeri on Sunday on the sidelines of his Jana Maha Yatra, asked why Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was silent on the BJP's role in the Rafale deal.
He said the CPM was unable to tackle the BJP at the national level. BJP state president P. S. Sreedharan Pillai expressed his happiness over the latest developments recognising BJP as a major force in Kerala.
