With the Communist Party of India (CPI) showing unwavering resolve in its stance that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M))-led state government is withdrawing from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Center and joining the controversial PM SHRI (PM Schools for Rising India), the CPI(M) body is mulling over the upcoming local relations. elections.
Senior CPI(M) leaders confirmed to The Hindu that the party would try to cool down the mood by explaining the reasons for hastily joining the scheme. A meeting of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) will be called soon to give an explanation to the allies. The withholding of federal funds for Samagra Shiksha Kerala has created a desperate situation but the allies should have been taken into confidence before joining the programme, the leader said.
Contrary to their previous stand, CPI(M) leaders argued that the state would have the freedom to formulate its school curriculum and that the concurrent nature of education would not be changed by the system. They kept hoping that the CPI would eventually show up. Some, meanwhile, sought to invoke CPI’s “virtue signalling” by highlighting the implementation of PM USHA (Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan), a centrally sponsored program in the higher education sector, at the Kerala Agricultural University under the Ministry of Agriculture, which falls under the CPI.
“Withdrawing from the system is not among the options before us,” the CPI(M) leader said. However, the government could write to the center and express its concerns. The alternative would be to roll out the system slowly, he said.
The CPI state leadership on Tuesday decided to boycott Wednesday’s cabinet meeting, claiming that “even a hint of compromise with the BJP-RSS in Kerala would have national ramifications”. Binoy Viswam, CPI state secretary, remained hopeful of an early resolution of the issue. When asked how to proceed, he said that there are more options left in politics.
Other constituents in the LDF, such as the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) and the Indian National League, sounded optimistic about the CPI(M), offering a compelling explanation for the hasty signing of the agenda at the alliance meeting. “A discussion within the alliance would have prevented an awkward situation, but the general education minister would have been under immense pressure to raise funds for payment of salaries. We should look at it from his point of view,” argued Thomas K. Thomas, MLA and state president of the NCP(SP).
Published – 28 Oct 2025 21:56 IST
