Chandy hits out at Marxists' plans for protests in Kerala
We have people's support, chief minister says
Thiruvananthapuram: As the state conferences of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Kerala came to an end, state Chief Minister Oommen Chandy stated that no amount of protests could bring down a democratically elected government like his.
The CPM state conference ended in Thiruvananthapuram, re-electing Pinarayi Vijayan as the party's state secretary, and the CPI conference in Kollam retained C.K. Chandrappan as the state secretary. Vijayan and Chandrappan were involved in a war of words against each other and their parties before and during the state conferences.
The CPM leadership had hinted at a series of protests against the government to end its rule. Chandy reacted strongly to that statement, saying it was the "voice of a panicked Marxist party that had become bewildered by the people's support to the government", which was making such statements.
"It is the people of this state who elected this government. As long as the government enjoys the support of the people, no force can bring it down," Chandy said.
In his speech at the conclusion of the CPM state conference, Vijayan had targeted the state government, the CPI, and even the media. He took exception to Chandrappan's allegation that the CPM state conference had been conducted by an event management team.
Vijayan dared the CPI leader to disclose which event management team had conducted the event, adding that such an allegation was gross disservice to the CPM party volunteers who had worked hard to organise the state conference.
Cartoons
At a press meeting today, Vijayan said there had been some criticism of the party by the church, but said those in the church who were against the party was a small minority within their organisation. Vijayan also mentioned the existence of a "media syndicate" in his speech during the state conference.
At the CPM state conference, V.S. Achuthanandan also used the term "capital punishment", hinting that this was what some within the party wanted to give him. Local media carried cartoons showing Achuthanandan being crucified, with the caption ‘capital punishment', but Vijayan said today that he did not believe that the leader would be naive to make any comment against party policies.
