A. Harikumar
Thiruvananthapuram, April 11. The embattled Pinarayi Vijayan led LDF government in Kerala has won the first round of perception battle on the SilverLine issue as CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury declared party’s support to the SilverLine project. At a press conference at Kannur in Kerala today after he was reelected as party general secretary at the 23 rd CPI (M) party congress which ended there, Mr. Yechury said the project will raise the living standards in the state further. “The living standards in the state are already on a par with Europe because of the insightful development polices of the left,” Mr Yechury claimed. It means CPI (M)’s green signal to the focus on governance rather than ideology stand of Mr. Pinarayi.
Dismissing questions about the duplicity of the CPI (M) on the issue of land acquisition for development projects in Kerala and other states, Mr. Yechury’s refrain was Kerala is different. Stacking up the CPI (M)’s pro SilverLine approach with opposition to the Bullet Train Project in Maharashtra, Mr. Yechury said there the compensation promised to farmers was less there, and in Kerala it is adequate. So no duplicity in party’s stand.
Mr. Yechury’s words underscore the supremacy of Pinarayi in the party, and it will help the latter to completely stifle dissenting voices in Kerala’s Left Democratic Front. The takeaway is explicit. Mr. Pinarayi has won the first round of battle on the SilverLine front. Total support of the CPI (M) means the chief minister will be able to control the public discourse in Kerala on the SilverLine, as the CPI (M) has the best propaganda machinery in the state, and control over journalists of the mainstream media. Now team Pinarayi will build the narrative in the issue and others will be just responding.
A section of leaders of the CPI had earlier demanded caution in implementing the project as there is widespread protest in Kerala from the Opposition parties and people whose land will be acquired for the project. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, an organisation with strong left credentials has come out against the project recently. All those voices are likely to become less strident in the coming days, and will eventually peter out.
CPI (M) propaganda blitzkrieg
A united and assertive CPI (M) is likely to unleash a pro SilverLine propaganda blitzkrieg in the coming days. Pro left groups may back out of the protests against the SilverLine survey and erecting stones. The scenario could be similar to Vayal Kili agitation in Kannur which fizzled out earlier. The Vayal Kili agitation was against construction of road through pristine paddy fields. A section of the CPI (M) was the backbone of the agitation, but after the party came out united for the road, agitators backed out. That means there will be LDF Vs the Opposition (the UDF and the BJP) confrontation on the SilverLine in the coming days. The will power and organisational strength of the opposition will be tested severely in the coming days. On the propaganda front the opposition is a poor match to the CPI (M). A dissent in the CPI (M) would have sounded the death knell for the SilverLine. But, now Mr. Pinarayi has won an upper hand in the first round.