Left Front Pulls A Surprise On PM-SHRI, Shocks Gatbandhan

Tamil Nadu can only be shocked! Kerala’s ruling LDF is witnessing one of its fiercest internal flare-ups in recent times, with the CPI openly rebelling against its senior partner, the CPI(M), over the “discreet” signing of the MoU for implementing the Union government’s Prime Minister’s Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI) scheme. The CPI, caught completely off guard by the revelation that the agreement with the Union Ministry of Education’s Department of School Education and Literacy was inked on October 23, accused the CPI(M) of breaching front discipline and keeping allies in the dark. In a dramatic policy reversal, on October 19, the CPI(M) — one of the fiercest critics of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — took that surprising U-turn. After years of vehement opposition to the Union government’s PM-SHRI scheme, which mandates the implementation of NEP, the Left-ruled Kerala decided to join the initiative. It’s learnt that on October 23, Kerala Education Secretary Dr K Vasuki flew to New Delhi to ink the MoU on behalf of the state. She was accompanied by Dr AR Supriya, Director of Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK), whose funds had earlier been frozen by the Centre due to Kerala’s refusal to join PM-SHRI. The decision could unlock nearly Rs 1,500 crore in central funds previously withheld by the Union government. The “secret manner” in which the MoU got signed has snowballed into a full-blown political controversy. The CPI has accused the CPI(M) of violating coalition etiquette and undermining collective decision-making. The Union Ministry of Education welcomed the Kerala government’s decision to sign the MoU, terming it a major milestone in transforming the state’s school education landscape. However, as the CPI and CPI(M) stick to their position, Kerala’s ruling front faces a crisis. Will the storm over PM SHRI is shaking the very foundations of the Left’s coalition experiment?