Sahitya Akademi president and fellow Left traveller K Satchidanandan ruffled feathers within the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) by stating that continuous rule by a party/alliance does not augur well for a healthy democracy.

K SatchidandanThe comments by the prominent Malayalam poet come in the run up to the Assembly elections in Kerala, where the government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan is aiming for a third consecutive term.

“For a democracy to function well, the government and the opposition must change regularly. Bengal’s experience is before us,” Satchidanandan told reporters, a day after he dwelt on the same subjects in an interview to a local newspaper. He indicated that the current state of the West Bengal CPI(M) unit was largely due to its uninterrupted three-decade rule in the state, a period during which the decentralisation of power reduced.

“There are increasing possibilities of selfish motives overtaking a government when it remains continuously in power…victory and defeat in elections should not be the ultimate objective of parties. What is important is whether the parties reflect the voices of the people,” he added.

Though he clarified that his comments must not be seen in the context of the upcoming elections, Satchidanandan criticised the Vijayan government for appeasing Vellappally Natesan, an Ezhava outfit chief, despite his problematic comments.

“Secular parties must not indulge in appeasing communities and castes. It does not bode well for any Keralite when a government continuously appeases a person of a community and regards him even higher than the Guru (Sree Narayana Guru),” the poet said. Natesan heads the SNDP, a social service outfit of which Guru served as the first and lifelong chairman.

Satchidanandan also advocated for the LDF and the UDF to pitch a common candidate in areas where the BJP wields influence to prevent the saffron party from growing in the state. Though he backs the concept of the INDIA bloc and said all opposition parties must unite at the Centre, the poet said he would not call for such an understanding in Kerala as it would lead to BJP becoming the main opposition and in future even coming to power in the state.

Writer Sara Joseph, also a Left-aligned intellectual, supported the poet’s views. “I agree that there must be a change of government. All communist governments perish when they become autocratic in nature,” she said.

Satchidanandan’s comments against parties having continuous term in office were backed by Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan.

“The good communists and fellow Left travellers have lost belief in this government,” he said.

However, the CPI(M) leadership dismissed the poet’s views.

MV Govindan, CPM state secretary, said, “We are constantly explaining to the people the need to re-elect this government.”

KK Shailaja, senior CPI(M) leader, added, “The development initiatives taken over the last 10 years can only continue if the government is re-elected.”

Vishnu Varma is Assistant Editor and reports from Kerala for the Hindustan Times. He has 10 years of experience writing for print and digital platforms and has worked at The New York Times, NDTV and The Indian Express in the past. He specialises in longform reportage at the intersections of politics, crime, social commentary and environment.Read More