Binoy Viswam accuses previous LDF government of double standards on toddy

CPI Kerala secretary Binoy Viswam has criticised the previous LDF government's handling of the toddy-tapping industry, saying it applied different standards to toddy shops and to bars. He was speaking at the State conference of the Kerala Samsthana Chethu Thozhilali Federation in Vaikom.

Mr. Viswam said the earlier administration had taken a wrong approach to the toddy sector and its workers, and had done nothing to protect traditional labourers. He noted that the CPI had repeatedly pressed in LDF meetings for a reduction in the 400-metre distance limit that applies to toddy shops near educational institutions and places of worship, but no action followed.

By contrast, he said, the distance limit for bars owned by the affluent was brought down to 50 metres, which he described as evidence of a dual policy. He argued that the LDF has a political duty to safeguard traditional sectors such as toddy, handloom, cashew and beedi.

Mr. Viswam said Pinarayi Vijayan and other leaders had agreed with the CPI's position during front meetings, yet five years passed without any move. Principles, he added, prove their worth only when they are put into practice.

He also urged the LDF leadership to introspect on its defeat in the last Assembly elections, pointing out that even loyal supporters of the front had not voted for it. While he conceded that withholding votes was wrong, he said the front must understand why it had lost public trust and why voters had drifted away.

Turning to the Congress, Mr. Viswam said that if Jawaharlal Nehru were alive, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan would have faced the sharpest rebuke from him. He contended that Mr. Satheesan's positions reject Nehru's political ideals and traditions, and are steering the Congress along a path a Nehruvian party would never have contemplated. The Congress, he said, is using Nehru's name to mask its own political errors, and Nehru should not be treated as a shield for failure.