CPI(M) seeks to ease tensions with CPI over PM-SHRI MoU

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State Secretariat apparently sought to ease tensions with the Communist Party of India (CPI), the second largest constituent of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), which had openly criticised the government for “surreptiously” signing the “anti-federal and reactionary” PM-SHRI scheme ostensibly to secure an estimated ₹1,446 crore central grant for school education without consulting the ruling front or the cabinet.

The CPI(M) appeared keen to mollify an apparently indignant CPI. CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govidan told a press conference that signing the PM-SHRI MoU did not preclude further debate on the subject in the LDF or cabinet. “There is no dispute the LDF cannot solve via consensus”, he added. 

Mr Govindan also signalled that the CPI could rest assured that the LDF would reject the Centre’s rider linking the release of statutory federal grants for school education to acceptance of the RSS-inspired National Education Policy (NEP).

“The State needs the money without compromising on NEP. Kerala’s social and political climate is not conducive to accepting the Centre’s improbable conditions for the release of SSA and PM-SHRI funds. The Sangh Parivar’s writ won’t run in progressive Kerala”, he said.

Mr Govindan said that setting political conditions for the release of statutory federal grants to States was Congress’s legacy. “The first five-year plan under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru released funds the Centre owed to the States unconditionally. Later, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi threw the Nehruvian principle to the wind, and the BJP took a cue from the Congress to arm-twist States into accepting conditions that politically advantage the ruling disposition”, he said.

Mr Govindan said the Congress had no moral right to gripe about seeking PM-SHRI funds. “Congress governments in Rajasthan, Karnataka and Telangana have enrolled themselves in the scheme to safeguard the interests of their respective states”, he said. 

Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of unilaterally capitulating to the Centre’s “coercive demand” that Kerala implement the NEP as a prerequisite for the release of the badly needed obligatory federal grants for school education.

Mr Satheesan dared Mr Vijayan to reveal what had forced him to cave in to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pressure, keeping the cabinet and the LDF in the dark. He dared the CPI to disavow the “humiliation” it suffered in the cabinet and LDF.

UDF senses political opportunity

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF, seemingly sensing a political opportunity, invited CPI to join the Opposition coalition. “The UDF will welcome CPI if the latter chooses to break ranks with the CPI(M)”, UDF convenor Adoor Prakash stated.