Killings Kill The Fun

Two gruesome murders overshadow the hugely successful state party conference of the CPI(M)

- Cithara Paul

On February 25, the Communist Party of China cleared the decks for President Xi Jinping to stay in office forever, by pro-posing to remove presidential term limits from the constitution. The CPC also proposed to insert “Xi Jinping Thought” into the constitution. The twin moves are deemed to be the CPC’s “magical key’’ to help Chinese society overcome hardships and complete its various missions.

Interestingly, on the same day, the ruling CPI(M) concluded its four-day state conference in Kerala and gave state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan one more term at the helm. At the conference held in Thrissur, the CPI(M) sidelined traditional jargons like “class war’’ and “neo-liberal agenda”, and spoke about preserving the greenery of Kerala, the rights of transgenders, houses for all, a people-friendly health delivery system, and the importance of public education, palliative care, organic farming, water conservation and waste management.

“Local committees would construct 2,000 houses for destitute families with public support,” said Balakrishnan. “The party’s district committees would clean up rivers, while local committees would clean up local ponds.” Under the watchful eyes of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Kerala CPI(M) seems to have chucked the distant dream of “revolution” for something more pragmatic and palpable.