# Ajayan | The fiery tirades of the LDF’s former golden boy, PV Anvar, have clearly struck a nerve, leaving the CPM - and its otherwise unshakeable Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan - scrambling for cover. Party Kerala secretary MV Govindan, the supposed master of rhetoric, was left fumbling, grasping for both words and ideas. His grand counterattack amounted to a battle cry for the party cadre to fight Anvar tooth and nail. One might have expected a more sophisticated response, but it seems all the defeated CPM leadership could muster was a call to cadre for mutiny.

And, true to form, the ever-loyal foot soldiers of the party have dutifully stormed the streets, raising slogans that echo the dark ages rather than the democratic values the party should claim to uphold. Promising to chop off Anvar's hands and legs and toss his mangled body into the waters is hardly the kind of discourse that decorum or decency will endorse. Ironically, it harkens back to a notorious moment not long ago when a little child at a rally for a Muslim outfit, was made to raise a similar threat against the RSS. That outburst shocked Kerala's delicate sensibilities, provoking an uproar from the State's self-appointed "culture vultures". Yet now, with the CPM cadre parroting similar barbaric threats, these moral crusaders seem to have lost their voices. Whether the courts will take up the matter and hold these firebrand cadres accountable is awaited. As Kerala is no stranger to these slogans translating into gruesome reality, as seen in the chilling murder of RMP leader TP Chandrasekharan.

Anvar’s laundry list of accusations - be it the ADGP’s secret meetings with RSS leaders which the CM as Home Minister should have been well aware of, the party and LDF Government allegedly controlled by this cop and the infamous P Sasi, the gold smuggling scandals, efforts to shield the CM’s daughter in a cash-for-favours case, or the rise of Pinarayi’s son-in-law - are hardly breaking news in Kerala. These claims have been floating around for long, raised by the Opposition and followed up by the media. Back then, the CPM dismissed them all as right-wing propaganda designed to destabilize the government, even deploying Anvar to defend them. But now, with Anvar reiterating the same accusations and flaunting proof, he is now branded a "tool of right-wing revisionists". The irony is thick, especially as some of these issues are claimed to be under investigation by the Government itself, vindicating the Opposition and the so-called "right-wing media".

Considering how the CPM has dealt with rebels, be it the mighty MV Raghavan or the vanguard KR Gowri, the fact that three politburo members scrambled to mollify Anvar speaks volumes and he holds a trump card. A visibly defeated MV Govindan’s proclamation that the party and LDF had nothing to do with Anvar, who supposedly chose to leave on his own, is almost laughable. Never in the party’s history has such a meek response been seen, a telling sign of the growing fear that disintegration may be brewing within the once unshakable CPM.

The defence by Pinarayi and the party to shield the ADGP, promising yet another "probe", coupled with the Chief Minister’s sparkling clean chit to the ever-scandalous P Sasi, paints a rather pitiful portrait of CPM. Even Govindan's half-hearted assurance that the party would “look into” the allegations against Sasi seems more like a shrug than a serious commitment. Even worse was the CPM Malappuram district secretary's cringe-worthy confession to the media that Anvar’s performance as a legislator was disastrous. Apparently, his business ventures eclipsed his duties as a people's representative, the leader claimed. Despite this wreck of a tenure, Anvar was not only given a second chance but also won the people’s mandate. However, why the party gave such a ‘disaster’ like Anvar another shot remains mysteriously unanswered.

Rebellion is brewing within the very party akin to its customary lecture on the inherent seeds of destruction, a line though usually reserved for capitalism. This time, the cracks are closer to home. CPI, at least now eager to show its spine, has taken a sharp political stance against the ADGP’s cozy tete-a-tetes with the RSS and his infamous role in the Thrissur Pooram fiasco, which, not so coincidentally, led to the humiliating defeat of its Lok Sabha candidate. Not to be outdone, other coalition allies like RJD and Kerala Congress (M) are also chiming in with thinly veiled disdain. It's getting crowded under the rebellion tent.

One can almost see the West Bengal storm clouds looming over Kerala’s political horizon for the CPM. But the real threat in this “big fight” isn’t just the party’s internal chaos - it’s the dangerous communal divide Anvar could ignite, and the CPM’s all-too-familiar response: violence. While the issues Anvar raises resonate with what many in the State already believe, the backing he is now getting from forces with a history of strong communal agenda, combined with the CPM’s violent threats, certainly spells trouble for Kerala.