Deep divisions within Kerala’s ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) over a private law school here widened yesterday with senior leaders joining in the slanging match.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) central committee member, E P Jayarajan, derided junior partner Communist Party of India with an adage implying that it was enjoying power at his party’s expense.
“The CPI is seen nowhere in the state,” said the senior leader who had to resign as industries minister following nepotism charges recently. “As the saying goes in our Malabar (the northern region of the state), (lower caste) Warrier is having his meal at (upper caste) Namboothiri’s home.”
The All India Students Federation (AISF), a feeder outfit of the CPI, the second largest ruling partner, had been on strike demanding the resignation of Lakshmi P Nair, principal of the Kerala Law Academy, for almost a month now.
The CPI (M) is angry with them for launching protests with the opposition parties led by the Congress party’s Kerala Students Union (KSU).
The student outfit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also joined the protesters accusing the school of “illegally” occupying 11.49 acres of government land worth around Rs600mn.
Though the CPI (M)’s Students Federation of India (SFI) earlier joined the protest, it withdrew last week after getting an assurance to keep Nair out of the academy’s functioning for five years.
However, others have continued demanding her formal resignation as they fear she will keep harassing them.
“The CPI should try not to tarnish the image of this government with their public statements. They should show more maturity,” Jayarajan said in Thrissur. He was provoked into making the comments after statements by CPI leaders and an attack by one of them in the party mouthpiece Janayugam as a response to the CPI (M) criticism that the BJP “sponsored the protest”.
Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan, a CPI leader, also ordered an inquiry into the status of the land in its possession, disregarding Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s position.
The opposition wants the government to take back the land allotted in 1968. “If everyone starts to act on their own and order an inquiry into every complaint they receive, what will happen?” asked Jayarajan. “They should understand coalition politics.”
CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran retorted stating Jayarajan did not deserve a reply. “He has a habit of saying different things on different days,” he said.
“We don’t know what assurance they got from the management to end the strike.”
Meanwhile, CPI (M) members and government nominees voted out a resolution the UDF (United Democratic Front) moved in the syndicate of the University of Kerala with the support of the CPI to cancel the institute’s affiliation.
They decided to constitute an enquiry into the academic qualifications of Nair, who got her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the same institute headed by her father, and discriminatory internal assessment.
Nair, who hosts a popular cookery show on CPI (M)’s Kairali TV, is also facing charges of discrimination on the basis of caste and gender, besides awarding internal marks at will and persecuting students refusing to do extracurricular “duties” like working at her restaurant.
In an interview with Mangalam newspaper, Nair said she would never resign from the institute but would keep away from official duties. She accused the agitating students of wanting to “convert the law academy into a love academy.”
She also accused some politicians of gaining “undue favours” for turning against her, and added if she wanted to enter politics, it would be through the CPI (M).
Nair claimed she had admitted several candidates to the institute who were recommended by local legislator and senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan, who is currently on an indefinite fast in solidarity with the students. She, however, refused to reveal more.