VZCZCXRO6527
RR RUEHBI RUEHCI
DE RUEHCG #0281/01 1061052
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161052Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL CHENNAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0837
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2436
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0751
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 5017
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 1320
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000281 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR IN
SUBJECT:  CLAIMS OF CIA CONSPIRACIES ABOUND IN KERALA COMMUNIST 
INFIGHTING 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Two warring factions within Kerala's deeply 
divided ruling party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), accuse 
each other of manipulating the media and liberally use the choicest 
insult:  that their media antagonists are bankrolled by the U.S. 
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Leading the smaller faction, 
Chief Minister Achuthanandan is desperately trying to maintain power 
while his rival, the leader of the bigger faction Communist Party 
State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, is trying to take full control of 
the party machinery.  Although a formal split in the Communist Party 
is unlikely, the infighting has deeply eroded the party's standing, 
which was high after an impressive win in the May 2006 elections. 
The intraparty conflict is likely to see continued rhetoric 
concerning alleged CIA conspiracies operating in Kerala.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
ATTACK ON MEDIA OPPONENTS PART OF CPI(M) INFIGHTING 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Kerala's media has been filled lately with charges by 
Communist politicians that the CIA is funding media syndicates in 
Kerala to destroy the ruling party. Senior politicians including the 
Chief Minister, newspaper editors, and associations of journalists 
have exchanged charges and counter charges in Legislative Assembly 
sessions, press conferences, and the columns of newspapers.  Though 
the charges appear plainly farcical, they are in fact part of a much 
more serious political infighting going on within the Kerala CPI(M). 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Kerala's CPI(M) has two major factions:  one led by the 
Party State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and the other by Chief 
Minister Achuthanandan.  Although, the octogenarian Chief Minister 
has tried to claim a more orthodox position than Party Secretary 
Vijayan's camp, the infighting has more to do with who gets to wield 
power and control the party's assets than any real ideological 
differences. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The "official group" led by State Secretary Vijayan 
controls the party machinery and has a majority in the powerful 
State Committee.  In the state cabinet, too, a majority of the 
ministers belong to the "official group."  On the other hand, Chief 
Minister Achuthanandan, leading a smaller faction of the party, is 
more popular with the masses.  In the 2006 elections, the party did 
not plan to field Achuthanandan.  In response, Achuthanandan's 
followers staged demonstrations throughout the state against the 
party leadership.  Ultimately, these demonstrations, coupled with 
media coverage of the unusual "revolt" within the Communist Party, 
forced the politburo to reverse itself.  Many believe that the 
massive victory the CPI(M) scored in the elections was due in 
significant part to the popularity of Achuthanandan, magnified by 
the media attention he received as a result of the demonstrations 
and subsequent politburo reversal. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
ALLEGATIONS OF CIA LINKS SPICE THINGS UP 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) State Secretary Vijayan's allegations that a "media 
syndicate" operates in Kerala refers to a group of journalists who 
jointly slant their stories in favor of Chief Minister 
Achuthanandan.  Credible media insiders inform post that journalists 
belonging to several newspapers have joined in an informal group 
that supports Achuthanandan and his group in the faction feud. 
References to a CIA connection to this "media syndicate" are simply 
to grab headlines:  "The CIA link allegation is just to add some 
'masala' (spice) to the story; everybody knows it is not serious," a 
journalist explained to post. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Chief Minister Achuthanandan also plays the game, accusing 
his media opponents of ties to the CIA.  But rather than going after 
the journalists, the Chief Minister targets media proprietors whose 
publications he feels consistently slant stories against him.  He 
named two newspapers -- Deepika and the Malayala Manorama -- 
alleging they are on the CIA's payroll.  The Chief Editor of the 
Malayala Manorama issued a sharp denial and is planning to go to 
court against the Chief Minister.  A media source told post that the 
Deepika has been particularly stinging in its criticism of 
Achuthanandan, perhaps due to the fact that one of the paper's 
owners is a close friend of State Secretary Vijayan. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) While both sides exchange wild accusations that the others' 
media supporters are linked to the CIA, State Secretary Vijayan's 
"official group" is busy trying to weed out Achuthanandan supporters 
from the party's district and local committees.  According to 
journalists, the State Secretary seeks full control of the party in 
 
CHENNAI 00000281  002 OF 002 
 
 
advance of the triennial 2008 state committee elections in order to 
cut the Chief Minister out of the equation.  Some even believe that 
the official group would consider removing the Chief Minister from 
his post within the next year or two.  The infighting has eroded 
much of the goodwill the CPI(M) developed with its impressive win in 
the May 2006 state assembly elections. 
 
¶8. (SBU) COMMENT: Kerala's communists frequently point out, as Chief 
Minister Achuthanandan did recently, that former Ambassador Daniel 
Patrick Moynihan wrote in his book "A Dangerous Place" that the U.S. 
government paid money to the Congress party in the 1950s to defeat 
the emerging Communist Party in Kerala.  Moynihan's words in hand, 
Kerala's leftists find that branding their opponents as linked to 
the CIA is a quick and effective strategy in intraparty struggles. 
So long as squabbling continues in the CPI(M), it is likely that the 
rhetoric of CIA conspiracies will continue to circulate in the 
state.  END COMMENT 
 
HOPPER