Damage control by Pinarayi

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On a day when the Express report on the WikiLeaks cables took the entire political spectrum by surprise, the CPM leadership went on a damage control drive and tried to explain away the meeting with the US officials as a courtesy call.But the Congress dubbed it as evidence of the double standards of the Marxist party.The disclosures on the eagerness of the CPM official leadership to court US capital for development and Pinarayi Vijayan’s disowning of the agitation against Coca- Cola by terming it as a mere local issue have evoked sharp response from various segments, especially against the backdrop of nearing organisational polls in the party.Pinarayi Vijayan admitted that a meeting between the US political counsellor and US diplomatic officials had taken place at the AKG Centre in the presence of other leaders but maintained that it was only a ‘’courtesy visit which had no agenda.’’ Speaking to Express over phone, he said it was a usual courtesy visit.“When the American officials met us at the AKG Centre, we discussed the relations between the Indian and American people.We told them that the CPM was opposed to the US policies at the international level.But we said that we are not against the American companies.Then they pointed out the problems being faced by Coca-Cola company at Plachimada.“They were told that the protest against the company was not because it was a US company but because of the environmental issues, including exploitation of the water resources.’’ “Though it was a local protest, the Coca- Cola company could not find a solution to it.Coca-Cola may not have caused environmental disaster of that dimension elsewhere in the world.We pointed out that several American companies were functioning in the state and there had been no protest against them,” Vijayan further added .“We endorsed that the US companies could invest in the tourism and IT sectors without causing environmental problems,” he admitted.Asked whether he had described Plachimada issue as a local problem, Vijayan underscored that it was not a local issue at all.When pointed out that Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan had said the party secretary could not have said like that, he asserted that VS was absolutely right.“Media has vested interests while misinterpreting facts”.V S Achuthanandan dismissed the dimension given to the meeting with the US principal officer Andrew Simkin three years ago as a wrong interpretation of the media but maintained that a meet had indeed taken place.“It was a wrong interpretation.WikiLeaks documents may be wrong,” he told mediapersons in Kochi.“They have met me.I reminded them that their stance on Iraq was wrong and it will not sell here,” he said.On the reported stance of Pinarayi Vijayan on the people’s stir against Coca-Cola in Plachimada, Achuthanandan said that he did not think that Vijayan could say so.“When international opinion had mounted and even the Stockholm convention itself had taken a tough stand, how anyone can say otherwise,” he wondered.