This is a season when the retail sector in Kerala is getting pulled in two opposite directions by the ?big duo? of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition?the CPI(M) and the CPI. So, while the front-door looks menacing, for retailers ready to look further, there?s a red carpet on the back-door.

Even as the National Sample Survey Organisation?s latest survey finds Kerala topping the country in the monthly per household expenditure (both rural & urban) charts, there are policy contradictions galore when it comes to the retail sector.

This was evident last week, when retail became the battleground for sibling tension between CPI(M) and CPI. Just as three CPI(M) ministers (finance, tourism and industry) spinned out the publicity blitzkrieg for a month-long ?Grand Kerala Shopping Festival?, CPI?s youth wing, the All India Youth Federation, unleashed a stone-pelting protest against the outlets of ?monopoly retail majors?.

Dutifully, the state police was on their toes. But then, all the big-billed players in Kerala?Reliance Retail, RPG?s Spencer, AV Birla?s Fabmall, Pantaloon?s Big Bazaar?got a taste of CPI?s violent mood. Not satisfied, two CPI ministers dashed to the police station to get the offenders bailed out.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) is expecting the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (from December 1) to get spenders in the state (even NRIs) wear their ATM cards thin. Any retailer with an outlet or stall anywhere in Kerala can pay registration fee and get the event-insignia display material. Since this is to be an annual feature, this year Kerala is investing Rs 30 crore in prizes and publicity. ??In three years, the event brand will be developed,?? says finance minister TM Thomas Isaac.

The state ex-chequer is counting on the VAT bonanza from shopping. It?s tourism that?s eyeing the event jackpot. ??Beyond beaches, backwaters and Ayurveda, Kerala tourism will now have an international shopping experience angle,?? says Vijay Singh, managing director, New Delhi-based 141 Sercon, who undertook the marketing of the retailing event.

CPI(M), once vying with CPI in throwing flak at big retail, is now on an ?If you can?t beat ?em, join ?em? mode. Chief minister VS Achuthanandan, one of the sharpest retail-baiters, seems to have buried his hatchet even against FDI in retail.

When protestors blackflaged him while opening a centre of Abu Dhabi?s retail chain, Lulu Hypermarkets, in Kochi last year, Achuthanandan was quick to respond that the investor should be patted for using a field lying fallow.

At the same time, CPI stands firm. ??Armed with a state-run Supplyco chain of 14,000 ration shops and 2,500 fair-price outlets, we do not fear Walmart or Reliance,?? says C Divakaran, state food minister. Reports say that except for the Rs 4 crore profit from its own Sabari tea brand, Supplyco has taken a taken a revenue beating after big malls came up. It is in vegetable sourcing that state government chains (also run by CPI) are worst hit. Trade sources divulge that Reliance Retail procured 1,200 tonne of vegetables in five months from farmers.

In Kerala, it is not uncommon for CPI(M) and CPI to cock an ideological snook at each other while sharing power. But this time, the sore spot is control of resources. Starting with the spat over the coffers of the Sabarimala hill shrine, the sibling skirmishes have taken to street battles over retail.