Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s attempt to mend fences with the CPI leadership over signing up for the PM SHRI programme has failed to yield results, deepening tensions within the ruling Left Democratic Front.
On Monday evening, Vijayan held back-to-back meetings with CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam and the party’s four ministers at the Alappuzha government guest house.
The talks were aimed at resolving the rift that emerged after the state government decided to join the Centre’s PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) project on October 16, reportedly without cabinet approval.
Vijayan did not respond to media queries after the two-hour-long meeting on Monday, his silence suggesting that the talks had not gone as planned.
Viswam told reporters: “We didn’t get a solution to the problems we raised, even though the meeting was cordial. Further decisions will be communicated later.” The CPI leadership has decided to abstain from Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
The CPI, the second largest ally in the LDF government after the CPM, was peeved with Vijayan and general education minister V. Sivankutty for “hoodwinking” the cabinet on the PM SHRI programme.
Immediately after the Alappuzha meeting, CPI general secretary D. Raja extended support to his state leadership while speaking to reporters at Ajoy Bhavan in
New Delhi.
At the Punnapra-Vayalar Martyrs’ Day programme in Alappuzha, Vijayan defended the decision to join the PM SHRI scheme.
“Since 2016, the LDF government has made significant progress in the education sector — something even the Centre has acknowledged. Development is possible only with social commitment,” he said.