The two-day CPI(M) State committee meeting which concluded here on Wednesday suspended former Idukki district secretary M.M. Mani from the committee for six months.
Announcing the decision through a press release, the party State committee said Mr. Mani had ‘dealt a heavy blow to the party’s image’ with his speech which was made at the time of the Neyyattinkara Assembly byelection. Since the party was facing a strong attack against it from its enemies at the time over Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T.P. Chandrasekharan’s murder, it also hurt the credibility of the party’s efforts to defend itself, the release pointed out.
The CPI(M) State committee said it was clear that neither Mr. Mani nor the party had anything to do with the incidents mentioned in his speech. The party did not believe in physically eliminating its enemies. Its policy was to combat its enemies politically and ideologically. Mr. Mani’s speech was used by the party’s enemies to launch a virulent attack on the CPI(M), the release added.
In yet another release, the CPI(M) State committee formally admitted that former party Ernakulam district secretary Gopi Kottamurikkal had misused the district committee office in contravention of communist morality. The July 21-22 meeting of the party Central committee, the release said, had accepted the State committee’s June 24 decision to expel him from the primary membership of the party for his action and the statements that he had made bringing opprobrium for the party.
The State committee meeting, which also decided to organise a siege of collectorates on August 22 to protest against the UDF government’s ‘anti-people’ policies, appeared to have put party veteran V.S. Achuthanandan on the defensive with the Central committee resolution roundly accusing him of having raised charges against the State leadership because of factional motivations, indicating that the organisational woes of the CPI(M) in Kerala are perhaps still not resolved.
