The murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan will have no bearing on the Neyyattinkara by-election, Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M] State secretariat member V.V. Dakshinamoorthy said here on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr. Dakshinamoorthy said the United Democratic Front (UDF) was turning the murder into a campaign weapon against Left Democratic Front (LDF) as they had no other issues to rise.
“Even Defence Minister A.K. Antony had campaigned at Neyyattinkara and he had nothing else to say. The UDF is using Onchiyam as a political weapon against the CPI(M), in a bid to sideline real issues,” he said.
Asked about the arrest of party workers in connection with the murder,
Mr. Dakshinamoorthy said the police was making arrests as per the directions of Congress leaders. Everyone who gets arrested need not be guilty, he said.
“When State Police Chief Jacob Punnoose initially said business rivalry was the reason for the murder, he was asked to retract the statement. The fact is that the real culprits behind the murder are yet to be arrested,” he said.
The UDF had no right to blame the CPI(M) for the murder as there had been mass killings in the State during the earlier regimes of the UDF. “The former LDF government demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the Marad incident three times, but to no avail,” he said.
Asked about the party's stand on CPI(M) Idukki district secretary M.M. Mani's statements, Mr. Dakshinamoorthy said the CPI(M) Polit Bureau had made the stand on the issue clear and that he had nothing more to add.
