The sacrifice of Palora Matha, who gladly donated her only calf to raise fund for party newspaper Deshabhimani over six decades ago, is part of the Communist folklore in Kerala. Matha, who had nothing else to part with, is still celebrated as the symbol of common people’s bond with the CPM.

Now, others like Matha, equally destitute, are lining up with their meagre monthly pensions for a new CPM cause: a kitty set up by the party to fight the SNC Lavalin case, in which powerful state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is one of the accused. Among those who have already contributed are employees of the Kochi unit of Deshabhimani, who have each given up their one-day salary for the cause.

While there is no formal direction in this regard from the CPM, which is resigned to long-drawn-out court proceedings in the scam, party units have seized the opportunity to beef up the newly formed special coffer to fight the case.

As CPM faithfuls contribute their sparse earnings, no one is questioning the reasoning for such a kitty by a party that has grown into a multi-crore business empire, with ventures spread over tourism, heath, media, rubber, toddy and several other verticals — with Pinarayi himself holding the status virtually of a chief executive officer of a corporate house.

“There is no quota fixed for any party unit in the state. However, several party sympathisers have voluntarily come forward to give financial assistance. Such spontaneous support would be welcomed,” CPM state secretariat member V V Dakshinamoorthy told The Indian Express, denying rumours that the Kottayam district committee’s “quota” for the Lavalin cause was Rs 50 lakh.

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