Crucial CPI meetings from today

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The meetings of three top bodies of the Communist Party of India (CPI) will begin here from Monday. While the secretariat will meet on Monday, the executive and the state council will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively.‘’Nothing extraordinary in the meetings. They will chalk-out the future programme, mainly campaigns for the party mouthpiece Janayugom and other party organistaions. There are whisperings about the topic of discussion in the meetings, but they are baseless,’’ state secretary Pannian Raveendran told Express. He said the leadership of his predecessor, the late C K Chandrappan, had helped boost the morale and confidence of the party and expressed hope that the comrades would carry forward his spirit. It may be recalled that the selection of Pannian Raveendran as the successor to Chandrappan resulted in a deep division in the party which still exists.  On April 9, the 31-member executive committee named CPI Parliamentary Party leader C Divakaran for the post of state secretary but the 143- member state council overwhelmingly opposed Divakaran’s name and instead suggested AITUC state president Kanam Rajendran for the post. Unable to strike a patch-up, the national leadership suggested the name of national secretariat member Pannian Raveendran for the post. Though the party leaders claim that the selection of Pannian was unanimous and everything was fine with the party, the passion it had created is yet subside.  In the secretariat meeting held on April 16, while a section of the leaders demanded a detailed discussion on how the executive’s decision was scuttled another section wanted an explanation on how the majority decision of the state council was overlooked. In the meeting, national executive member K E Ismail had termed the discussions as ‘’unhealthy’’ and wanted not to repeat the situation in future.The coming three days will prove crucial for the party as it, in all probability, will strive to set its house in order as a large number of cadres of the second largest party in the LDF are disheartened at the turn of events which showed the party in poor light.