Wisdom in hind-sight by LDF partners

By O J George

Kottayam: One would wish the LDF partners had advised big brother CPM to correct its erroneous ways on time!

There were the Singur and Nandigram land acquisition problems. There was the V S Achuthanandan-Pinarayi Vijayan tussle all these years.

Bishops, the NSS and most of the communities had grievances. The education realm was for so long churned inside out.

All the time, the LDF partners were sitting pretty, leaving everything to the principal party to solve the problems by itself.

No amount of denying would cover up the groupism in the CPM. The alliance partners should have put the main party on notice several times earlier.

Maybe, everyone thought the LDF had come to power on a landslide victory in the Assembly elections. The CPM was the main player and the people would stand by it.

The front partners allowed the main party to behave as though the government was only its own. Others were just hangers-on.

Now everything has gone beyond reparation by minor changes and just tinkering with issues.

The CPM thought, it seems, when a Mathew T Thomas and Mons Joseph are there in the
Cabinet, the church would sit with it. When the media asked Mathew T Thomas and Mons Joseph about the misgivings of the church, they used to simply shake it off saying the problems were being solved.

They were told that the LDF was not against minorities. Now Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil himself has pointed out in the pastoral letter that even the church members were defeated in the Lok Sabha elections.

Now CPI general secretary A B Bardhan says the CPM should solve the group rivalry between Pinarayi Vijayan and V SAchuthanandan. He is perfectly right in saying so, but the advice is belated.

There was a situation when the CPM politburo had suspended Pinarayi and Achuthanandan from the politburo. The PB took them back on the assumption that they have corrected their party ways.

Prof T J Chandrachoodan is a forthright person on various issues. But he was found lacking in correcting the big brother.

Kerala Congress (J) and Janata Dal (S) were helpless, for their views were not found receptive, it seems. Otherwise, should the church be so distanced from the ruling dispensation?

Mons Joseph was the pick of the CPM. But what could he do to get the support of the church? Beware, all these people are going to face the wrath of the church in the next Assembly elections.

The point is, one should speak out when there is the need. Vacillation will not help anyone, but self-destruction is assured.