Hitting out at the party committee that examined the flaws in electioneering in the Ambalappuzha Assembly constituency in 2021, former Minister and senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader G. Sudhakaran has said the panel has submitted a one-sided report without quoting a “single line” from his statement.
Based on the report submitted by the panel comprising CPI(M) leaders Elamaram Kareem and K.J. Thomas, the State committee in November 2021 publicly censured Mr. Sudhakaran for not behaving as expected of a party State committee member during candidate selection and campaign for the 2021 Assembly election.
“I had given a 24-page affidavit to the panel. However, the panel submitted its report totally omitting my explanation. I am not raising this as a complaint, but it is the fact. I accepted the party’s decision to censure me. I have not uttered a single word against it nor did I file an appeal to the CPI(M) central committee. I have no complaints over it,” Mr. Sudhakaran told The Hindu. “I have been maintaining extraordinary discipline after the party decision,” he added.
H. Salam, MLA, who succeeded Mr. Sudhakaran in Ambalappuzha had then alleged that latter had not cooperated with him properly during the Assembly polls. This prompted the party to appoint the inquiry panel.
Mr. Sudhakaran said he did not try to defeat the party candidate. He had worked for the victory of Left Democratic Front candidates in the district, including H. Salam at Ambalappuzha. “I had addressed 19 rallies seeking votes for the CPI(M) candidate in Ambalappuzha. I also actively participated in other election-related works. In fact, the names of H. Salam for Ambalappuzha and P.P. Chitharanjan for Alappuzha were recommended by me. I never made a complaint against the party’s candidate in Ambalappuzha. My campaigning attempts had also contributed to their victories. The allegations against me were levelled after the election victory,” Mr. Sudhakaran said. He also hinted at further revelations on the matter in future.
On the Karuvannur Service Cooperative Bank scam, Mr. Sudhakaran said all wrongdoers should be punished. The bank governing committee had made mistakes. He branded the Enforcement Directorate probe into the fraud “lazy” and lacking “transparency”.
“It is the money of the people. The ED should complete the probe in the case in a time-bound manner and reveal the names of wrongdoers. If CPI(M) members are involved in the scam, the party will act tough against them,” he said, adding that the CPI(M) had not received a single penny from cooperative banks through illegal means.
Mr. Sudhakaran’s criticism of the panel seems to have flummoxed the CPI(M) State leadership. Terming Mr. Sudhakaran a senior leader in the CPI(M), Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian told reporters that the party had no intention to hurt him.
