What was seen as curious was the depiction of Kim Jong Un, the nuclear weapons-loving leader of Communist North Korea, whose latest inter-continental ballistic missile has hugely upset the US and has been vehemently denounced by the rest of the United Nations.
Over the decades, the CPM had idolised father of communism Karl Marx, Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong and Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, and used their images on flags and posters, but Kim is a first.
Many have been stumped over the choice of the leader whom US President Donald Trump had variously called "a dictator", "a sick puppy" and once even "short and fat".
The BJP jeered, a tweet from party spokesperson Sambit Patra read:
Kim Jong-un finds place in CPM's posters in Kerala!!
— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) December 17, 2017
No wonder they have converted Kerala into Killing fields for their opponents!
Hope the left is not planning to launch missiles at the RSS,BJP offices as their next gruesome agenda! pic.twitter.com/6LHf1dVtAy
The tweet unleashed a spate of political messages on Twitter, with many commenting on the ongoing political violence in Kerala.
The BJP says since 2001, nearly 120 of its workers have been killed across the state by Left cadres. In the 16 months since the LDF government came to power in May 2016, 14 of the attacks took place in Kannur.
In October, while launching the "Jan Raksha Yatra", party chief Amit Shah held state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan "directly responsible for all political murders in Kerala".
The CPM is yet to comment on the issue. But sources in the party said when the poster was given for printing, someone "misused it" and added this picture.
