If not now, soon CPM may revisit Sprinklr deal
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Thiruvananthapuram: Though the state faction of CPM could garner the Central committee’s trust, it is learnt that in the matter of the sprinklr deal, a revisit cannot be written off.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will not be criticised though the decision regarding the deal was taken by the Chief Minister and IT department without involving other government arms. The CPM allies including CPI have opted not to defend or criticise the government considering the specific situation.
Sprinklr was awarded the deal without a discussion in the cabinet or at the political level within the CPM state secretariat. As the Opposition took up the issue, Pinarayi’s makeover as a leader beyond politics has suffered a blow.
IT secretary’s explanation one way or another corroborates the Opposition’s allegations. The bureaucrat took up the responsibility with the aim of defending the Chief Minister. However, CPM is dumbfounded before the political question on how the Left government could take a decision to sell the data of the public to a private firm.
CPM Central Committee has always fought hard for data privacy as it proved in the case of Cambridge Analytica, Aadhaar and the draft of Data Privacy Bill. The move of the Chief Minister, a polit bureau member, has put the Central leadership in a conundrum.
The Chief Minister has explained to the central leadership that it was a decision taken in an unusual situation. Though Chief Minister refuses to acknowledge the controversy, it will not be an easy task. The Chief Minister had stepped back from the decision to award a contract to KPMG during the floods though he refused to do so earlier.
In the issue of arrest of Alan and Taha under UAPA charges, the Chief Minister initially scoffed at the idea of writing a letter to the Home Minister to drop the charges against the duo, but he retracted from the stance and wrote a letter.
It is learnt that the same course will be followed in the case of Sprinklr too.
CPM state secretariat is scheduled for Tuesday.
