Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district unit secretary Saji Cheriyan has said that attempts are being made by certain sections to malign the party by taking refuge behind veteran leaders such as V.S. Achuthanandan.
In a statement issued here following a meeting of the district committee on Monday, Mr. Cheriyan termed reports that appeared in a section of the media regarding a function organised by the Deshabhimani self-help society untrue and baseless. The function was organised to hand over the key to a house to the next-of-kin of a cancer victim and felicitate veteran members and families of party martyrs.
Claiming that the society was not related to the party, Mr. Cheriyan said the party’s Mannar West local committee members Muhammed Aji and N.P. Divakaran assumed the positions of president and secretary of the organisation without the knowledge of the party. The decision to felicitate families of party martyrs was made without consulting the party.
The district committee of the CPI(M) had concluded that the function was organised to malign the party and create an alternative system within the organisation.
‘Party defied’
The party leadership, he said, had conveyed its stance that the agenda of the function should be limited to philanthropic activity alone, and had called upon the organisers to postpone the event and issue a modified programme notice. However, the organisers defied the party instruction, and went on with the programme. The 400-odd participants at the function mostly belonged to parties opposed to the CPI(M).
