Reds See A Green Sign

With the CPI(M) smelling success in the coming assembly polls, the party has started backing down on its various radical positions. Five municipal corporations under its sole control have got the go-ahead to accept a $221.20 million Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan to upgrade and expand urban infrastructure. CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan explained the change in stand in the party organ, Deshabhimani, saying the ADB had amended its conditions following the party’s objections. The party’s student wing DYFI, till now abrasive about the ADB, has called off its boycott. Another contentious issue was the proposed 507-km expressway through Kerala. The Congress-led UDF regime had to shelve the project fearing agitations. However, a section of the CPI(M) MLAs now feels the expressway is a must to ease traffic on congested roads. If the CPI(M) takes recourse to ideology while in the Opposition, it is at its pragmatic best when it smells power.