Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 5 (IANS): On the eve of the crucial assembly election, things are getting hotter in the bastion of the CPI-M after the 'head' of a life size poster of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was cut in his home turf of Kannur.

This was discovered at Mamparam on Monday morning leading to the local CPI-M leaders registering a complaint with the police. Kannur district party secretary M.V. Jayarajan said this is the work of the BJP/RSS.

"The victory of the Left has made them jittery and they are out to create trouble in the state," said Jayarajan.

But then there is another school of thought which says this incident is the outcome of the sudden surfacing of factionalism in the powerful Kannur wing of the party.

Of late top Kannur CPI-M leaders like former State party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan and former legislator and Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan, who were once considered the top aides of Vijayan have fallen out.

While E.P. Jayarajan and P. Jayarajan were expecting to get tickets to contest, but at the eleventh hour both failed to get them. Since then there has been an uneasy calm in the Kannur wing of the party.

Balakrishnan is also fuming after he was asked to go on medical leave last year after his younger son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested by the Bengaluru wing of the Enforcement Directorate. He continues to be in jail in Karnataka since October 29 last year.

And what has further angered these leaders is the frequent usage of the word 'Captain' to describe Vijayan.

On Saturday, P. Jayarajan came out with a post in his Facebook page where he said he supports the view of Balakrishnan who had said that in their party everybody is a comrade and the party is the captain.

"So a section of the media need not get jittery over the support that the Chief Minister is getting, as it's not the individual, but the party and the Left Democratic Front that's getting the people's support," wrote Jayarajan.

Incidentally, on Sunday, Vijayan himself said that if anyone thinks too highly of oneself and it gets into their 'heads', the party will step in and take corrective action.

Ever since Vijayan took the lead in dropping 33 sitting legislators, which included two-time Finance Minister Thomas Issac, PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran and many others, there has been unrest in the party.

But as a party known for its discipline, nothing came out in the open, but many infer from the 'cutting' of the head that things are not as rosy as seen from the outside.

If Vijayan fails to retain power, it could well be a free for all in the 'red party'.