A rare CPM-UDF camaraderie

KANNUR: The ‘Vismaya Amusement Park’, sponsored by the CPM in the district here continues to cause a lot of ‘amazement’ among political circles here at every stage of its development.The latest in the series of surprises was touched off  with the launch of a new subsidiary unit of the park, Vismaya Tours and Travels, which too was floated by the  Malabar Tourism Development Cooperative Ltd, fully controlled by the CPM leadership. The launch of the new tourism venture of the CPM cooperative on Saturday was marked by a lot of ‘political amusement’.The inaugural function also laid bare the brewing discontent over the issue among the leaders of both the Congress and the CPM. It was Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar, who launched the new subsidiary unit of the  CPM-sponsored tourism cooperative while A P Abdullakutty inaugurated its website.The Vismaya Amusement Park established by the CPM cooperative in the Communist heartland had been a target of criticism of the CPM by the Congress ever since the project was floated by the former. In fact, the Congress leadership had never recognised the merits of the CPM cooperative’s tourism venture at Parassinikkadavu in Kannur district. The Congress leadership too hadn’t expected that Congress leader Anilkumar would accept the invitation to inaugurate a new unit of the Vismaya Amusement Park.The party leaders in the district here also weren’t amused by  the words of praises showered on a rain-harvesting project set up as part of the park by A P Abdullakutty MLA. In what could be termed as a ‘quid pro quo’, Abdullakutty MLA was invited to launch the website of the  newly-formed Vismaya Tours and Travels.Unfortunately, the CPM cooperative’s action of offering a good-will gesture to Abdullakutty wasn’t taken kindly by many of the CPM leaders in the district here.The CPM leaders kept away from the function although they weren’t ready to acknowledge it as an action of protest. CPM district secretary P Jayarajan, state secretariat member M V Govindan and district panchayat president K A Sarala weren’t present at the function which was inaugurated by Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar on Saturday.Incidentally, even as the Vismaya Tours and Travels was expected to cause no miracle, it was A P Abdullakutty MLA who scored a political point.Kutty’s point of view that “tourism development schemes shouldn’t be mixed with petty political considerations” found a lot of supporters.