Cracks In Kerala’s Left Front: CPI Boycotts Cabinet Meets Over PM SHRI Scheme

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has decided to boycott Cabinet meetings until the first week of November, demanding that the Kerala government either withdraw from or put into cold storage, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the Centre under the PM SHRI (Prime Minister Schools for Rising India) scheme.

The party’s state council will determine the next steps during its meeting on 4 November, reported The Hindu.

CPI leaders accused the government of signing the pact without Cabinet consultation and in violation of the Left’s national policy.

CPI general secretary D. Raja criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s justification for joining the scheme, saying, “The argument that the government joined the scheme for availing of funds is not convincing. We have consistently opposed this policy of the BJP-RSS combine to privatise, communalise, and centralise education. Tamil Nadu refused to sign it and moved court. Why can’t Kerala do that?”

Vijayan met CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam and Ministers K. Rajan, G.R. Anil, and P. Prasad in Alappuzha to ease tensions, but the discussions ended without resolution. Viswam said afterward that the government had “not addressed the issues raised by the CPI.”

Rejecting speculation about quitting the LDF, Raja affirmed the CPI would fight while staying within the coalition. Congress leaders like UDF convenor Adoor Prakash, senior MP K Sudhakaran and state president Sunny Joseph had earlier said that the CPI was welcome to join their Front.

The CPI currently has four ministers and 17 MLAs in the Kerala Assembly.

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