Last month, Onchiyam, where 10 Communists had fallen victim to police firing in 1948 when the Communist Party was banned, witnessed the birth of a dissident party, Marxist Party Eramala. On Sunday, DFYI rebels in the region officially formed a new outfit, the DYFI (Revolutionary). Formation of a rebel DYFI is unprecedented in the history of the state.

After the formation of Marxist Party Eramala, the official faction had added fuel to the rebel rage by sidelining a couple of DYFI leaders who hobnobbed with the dissidents’ party. On August 15, when DYFI held youth conventions across the state, the sidelined DYFI leaders at Onchiyam held a parallel meeting, snubbing the local conference addressed by DYFI national president P Sreeramakrishnan. Irked by the insult, DYFI expelled eight local leaders, who later sowed the seed for DYFI(R).

According to party sources, 80 per cent of Communist activists in the region have now leaned to the rebel side. A significant feature of the development is that the rebels in CPI(M) and DYFI are sympathisers of V S Achuthandandan. Though Onchiyam had not witnessed any open factionalism, VS enjoys mass support in the region.

Trouble erupted when the CPI(M) Kozhikode district leadership, controlled by Pinarayi, wanted to remove a VS loyalist from the post of Eramala panchayat president. When the party accomplished its agenda, the outcome was the emergence of a new party. “The new DYFI will function as a reformist group, sticking to its principles. DYFI should not fall victim to the autocratic functioning of the CPI(M). The DYFI leadership has sacrificed its individuality, forcing us to go for a new body,” said DYFI(R) leader P Jinesh.

Several senior CPI(M) leaders had rushed to Onchiyam to stem the flow of party workers to Marxist Party Eramala. However, the party suffered another blow when the new outfit, initially confined to a single panchayat, spread to four other panchayats in Onchiyam.

What worries the party is that the rebel virus has attacked Ayancheri and Villyappalli, two party strongholds close to Onchiyam. “Party activists seemed to have drawn inspiration from the Onchiyam experiment. Open meetings to denounce the party line have become common,” a local leader said.

DYFI state secretary T V Rajesh said efforts have begun to win back DYFI activists.

The dissidence bug seems to have bitten the CPI(M) student wing SFI also. Last Friday, SFI (Revolutionary) bagged 16 out of 29 seats in the election held to the school parliament of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Orkkattery. Official SFI could not bag a single seat.