Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Saturday maintained that there’s nothing unusual in senior leader G. Sudhakaran deciding to give the forthcoming party congress in Kannur between April 6 and 10 a miss.
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“The party does not have any issues with him,” Mr. Balakrishnan told the media in Kannur on the sidelines of a protest organised by the party against the Centre’s ‘anti-people policies’ and rising fuel prices.
Mr. Sudhakaran had informed the party that he was indisposed and would not be in a position to attend the party congress. Those unable to attend the party congress from Ernakulam and Palakkad had also been replaced and, therefore, nothing was amiss, he said.
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In a letter to district secretary R. Razar, Mr. Sudhakaran cited health issues for his decision to skip the party congress. The party accepted the request and district secretariat member A. Mahendran was asked to fill in for Mr. Sudhakaran.
The CPI(M) had publicly censured Mr. Sudhakaran last year over alleged lapses in the Left Democratic Front’s electioneering in the Ambalapuzha Assembly constituency.
Further, prior to the CPI(M) State conference held in Kochi in March, Mr. Sudhakaran had written to the party leadership to exclude him from the State committee. Subsequently, he was not included on the new State committee citing the age bar of 75 years set for organisational roles.