With the Parliament election around the corner, efforts by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] to bring back former Devikulam MLA S. Rajendran to the party are hitting a roadblock.
According to leaders, the party’s State leadership had called Mr. Rajendran to Thiruvananthapuram on January 24, talked with him, and demanded that he cooperate with the party. Based on the State leadership’s direction, CPI(M) Idukki district secretary C.V. Varghese had visited Mr. Rajendran in February to ensure that his party membership would be resumed. However, according to sources, a senior party leader in Munnar opposed the move to bring Mr. Rajendran back to the party and so Mr. Rajendran is now rethinking his decision to rejoin the party.
In January 2022, State secretariat of the CPI(M) had suspended Mr. Rajendran from the party’s primary membership for a year. Earlier, the district committee of the party had recommended action against him after a two-member inquiry commission found severe lapses on his part in the election campaign of the party candidate in the Devikulam constituency during the 2021 Assembly election. Following this, Mr. Rajendran was not associating with any of the party programmes.
According to sources, Mr. Rajendran is one of the prominent CPI(M) leader in Munnar who hails from the Tamil community, which has a strong presence in Munnar, including in the Devikulam constituency. Mr. Rajendran also has a deep relationship with the community members. Recently, the party revealed that the absence of Mr. Rajendran had badly affected the party in Munnar.
In the recent local body election, the CPI(M) and Communist Party of India (CPI) members trailed in Munnar panchayat, while the Congress won the seat. Revealing the present political scenario, the party leadership has sped up the steps to bring back Mr. Rajendran to the party.
While responding, Mr. Rajendran told The Hindu that as per the direction from the State leadership, he had visited AKG Centre in Thiruvananthapuram on January 24 and interacted with the CPI(M) leaders, including State secretary M.V. Govindan and the Chief Minister.
“The party leadership had asked me to continue with the party. However, after the meeting, a senior leader who holds a vital position in the party opposed the move and tried to block my reinduction to the party. From the last Assembly election onwards, he had tried to mislead the party leaders and sideline me inside the party. In the present situation, I am rethinking about rejoining the party,” Mr. Rajendran said.
“Without proper assurance from the leadership, I cannot rejoin the party,” he added.
However, CPI(M) district secretary C. V. Varghese said that Mr. Rajendran was already with the CPI(M) and had not joined any other party. “Mr. Rajendran is an integral part of our party. The earlier action against him is a normal procedure in the party. It applies to any party worker, including me,” he said.
