CPI leader Binoy Viswam calls for unity amid tensions with CPI(M)

Communist Party of India (CPI) on Tuesday appeared to signal that indefinite squabbling with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] over the post of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly would leave the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in a politically perilous vacuum and accountability void in the wake of its crushing defeat in the 2026 Assembly elections.

CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam indicated in New Delhi that the party would expedite steps to settle the dispute and come together to “understand the reality” of the LDF’s situation in Keralam. He also ruled out media speculation that the CPI would sit as a disparate bloc in the Assembly.

Mr Viswam also hinted that the national gathering of Left leaders in New Delhi for the 'Change Is Necessary' rally against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi might play a mediatory role on the sidelines in helping the CPI settle its differences of opinion with the CPI(M).