The question has acquired greater relevance in the wake of the events that unfolded over the week. An immediate upshot of the fast-paced political developments has been that both the UDF and the CPI(M) have ended up with egg on their faces.

Kerala politics well and truly heated up with the launching on February 3 of an indefinite fast by K K Rema, wife of the slain Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader, T P Chandrashekharan, before the State secretariat in support of her demand for a CBI inquiry into the conspiracy behind the TP murder. The fast received unprecedented support from people from all walks of life, clearly unnerving both the CPI(M) and the UDF Government.

The UDF Government initially seemed enthusiastic about a CBI probe. In fact, the Kerala Police registered a new case on a fresh complaint by Rema, which would probe the conspiracy angle under section 120(b) along with section 302 of the IPC, which the earlier police probe had failed to bring out. Also, a CBI probe was not possible as the sessions court had already given its verdict in the TP murder case. Since an FIR has been filed in another conspiracy case registered at the Chombala police station, CBI inquiry was ruled out in that case as well. Hence, the registration of a fresh case. The Government can refer the case to the CBI then. That was the legal opinion the government received.

But the government quite inexplicably changed its stance on a CBI probe, saying that an early CBI inquiry was not possible. The reason: it claimed to have received fresh legal advice that unless the police investigated the new case and submitted at least a preliminary report, the case cannot be referred to the CBI! This being the case, it cannot set a time frame for announcing a CBI inquiry. The sudden volte-face by the government evoked angry reaction from the RMP leaders who accused it of having struck a deal with the CPI(M) leadership.

Both Rema and the RMP leadership refused to ‘walk into the trap’, and insisted on continuing the fast until a CBI probe was announced. An under pressure Government had no other option but to come out with an announcement that it agreed ‘in principle’ on a CBI probe at the earliest. And Rema ended her fast taking the assurance of the Chief Minister at its ‘face value.’

The suspicions of a deal were reinforced by the dilly-dallying on the part of the Government on a speedy CBI inquiry. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala even declared that the Government had at no point of time promised a CBI probe!. That was clearly at odds with the stand of former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and many other Congress leaders who favoured an immediate CBI inquiry. Thiruvanchoor rubbished the legal and technical hurdles argument advanced by Chennithala and others. He said there were no legal hurdles to a straightaway CBI investigation. Senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran was of the view that the CBI probe announcement should have come before Rema launched her fast; she should not have been forced into launching a fast in the matter, he opined, reflecting the views of a wide section of Congress leaders themselves.

The feet-dragging by the Government, expectedly, drew flak, reinforcing perceptions that the UDF Government is not sincere about uncovering the truth behind the murder. The reluctance of the UDF Government to order a CBI probe is a quid pro quo for the CPI(M)’s decision to go soft – and ultimately end – the anti-government agitation on the solar scam issue. That was the contention of the Government’s critics.

The biggest gainer of the fast has of course been the RMP, which has grown in strength and stature. For all you know, the Chandy Government may still go back on the actual announcement of a CBI probe. But that the RMP managed to get an assurance from a government that was not prepared to make even such a gesture is no mean achievement. The small Onchiyam (the area of operation of TP Chandrashekharan)-based RMP, has taken a giant step towards a pan-Kerala presence in the process. There is a stream of thought which sees in the development the beginning of a genuine Left movement and the emergence of a new communist culture with a human face – a communist culture that jettisons the pernicious politics of murder. What has enabled the RMP to grow in strength is the aggressive assertion of its distinct identity independent of both the CPI(M) and the Congress-led UDF.

As for the CPI(M), the party is putting up a brave front by saying that it is not afraid of a CBI inquiry. But in the same breath the party is vehemently opposing it on the plea that a CBI inquiry was not legally possible – an argument which is not completely correct. For instance, in the Best Bakery case, the Supreme Court ordered a reinvestigation after the lower court had freed all the accused. The stark reality is: the growing support for Rema’s fast and the rising tide of public opinion against the party is causing great concern to the CPI(M).

The CPI(M) seems to have alienated a sizable section of the people by its expression of solidarity with the nine convicts in the TP murder case, who the party alleged, were brutally beaten up on their arrival at the Viyyur central jail after being shifted from Kannur jail. In fact, a delegation led by CPI(M) Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan visited the convicts in the Viyyur jail for an on the spot study of the ‘torture’ issue, and accuse the Home Minister and the Jail DGP of conspiring to torture the prisoners. The party did not stop at that. It raised the issue in the State Assembly as well through a submission! The CPI(M)’s initial move to raise the issue through an adjournment motion was shot down by VS Achuthanandan. Significantly, VS stayed away while his party MLA was presenting the submission! That was the VS way of ‘getting even’ with the party which had imposed a ban on his public statements on the issue of a CBI probe into the TP murder case. The CPI(M)’s propriety in defending the killer gang which brutally murdered TP Chandrashekharan drew stinging criticism from MLAs cutting across party affiliations.

The fast has also taken the focus away from the Kerala Raksha Yatra (Save Kerala Yatra) undertaken by CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan from 1 February. Reports have it that the response to the yatra is not up to the expectations of the party. That is an eloquent sign of the turning tide against the CPI(M) in the wake of the post-TP murder case verdict.(IPA Service)