With its member and former Elamkunnapuzha panchayat president V.K. Krishnan going missing following a suicide bid, the CPI(M), already on the backfoot as a note left by him accuses the local leadership of the party of persecuting him, came under attack from Congress MP Kodikkunnil Suresh who demanded a comprehensive probe into the incident.
Krishnan, in his 70s, had jumped into the backwaters from a passenger boat and continued to be missing on Wednesday. Mr. Suresh alleged that Krishnan, belonging to the scheduled caste, could have suffered persecution and caste bias from the CPI(M). He said the kin of Krishnan had come forward pointing fingers at the party, which, he alleged, was trying to ostracise him by way of extreme disciplinary action. Meanwhile, CPI(M)’s K.S. Radhakrishnan, a member of the panchayat, said there was nothing that the party had done against Krishnan.
“The CPI(M) and the Congress had the same number of seats after the polls in 2015. A Congress dissident supported us, while another one stood with the Congress. The CPI(M) came to power through a draw of lots, but when the dissident switched sides, with the BJP’s support, the Congress moved a no-confidence motion in which Krishnan was ousted,” he explained.
But Krishnan’s note said he was pained not by the ouster, but the mistakes made by him. The party was trying to smoke him out, he wrote.
