By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Pinarayi Vijayan, who created a record of sorts by getting elected as the state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for the fifth consecutive term, has rolled down his agenda to strengthen the party at all levels, especially in relation with fellow travellers and minority communities.
It was only on Friday that the 66-year-old Vijayan was elected the secretary of the state party unit, a post he has held since 1998.
Addressing reporters here Saturday, Vijayan said one lacuna his party has identified is that on numerous issues the party has not been able to vibe with its large number of fellow travellers.
“While we have a very strong party organisational set-up to have a dialogue with our cadre, the same cannot be said of fellow travellers of our party. We have decided that from now on, we will regularly interact with fellow travellers in a proper manner. This would be taken care of by the district committees of our party,” said Vijayan.
He also pointed out that the other area where his party will now concentrate more is on the unorganised sector.
“The nurses’ sector is in shambles now and we have decided that we will seriously take up their issues. Today, there are a large number of migrant labourers from outside the state working here. We will see that they are treated properly and not exploited. The fisher folk community is another area we would delve into and also the Adivasi and Dalit communities,” said Vijayan.
He added that another section of society which his party will now concentrate on is minorities.
“It is a fact that a minuscule section of the Church leadership are against us. Those like Archbishop Joseph Powathil of the Catholic Church are so vociferous when they speak against us. We have decided that we will now directly get in touch with the Christian faithful and not seek any intermediary. We will initiate a dialogue with Christians,” added Vijayan.
Despite being routed in the May 2009 Lok Sabha polls and also losing the 2010 local bodies polls, the 2011 assembly polls saw the CPM lose power by only a whisker when they managed to win 68 seats and the Congress-led UDF won 72 seats in the 140-member house.
Incidentally, the CPI-M is the single largest party with 45 legislators while the ruling Congress has only 38 seats in the state assembly.