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Recurring cases against party cadres worry ruling CPI(M)
The party was in power for more than three decades in Bengal but it is reduced to a distant third now, they said warning cadres about “degenerating bourgeoisie tendencies.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) which retained power for the second time in Kerala is worried over the party cadres’ “growing involvement in unlawful activities” and many senior leaders have warned cadres not to go the West Bengal way, according to the people in the know of the matter .
The party was in power for more than three decades in Bengal but it is reduced to a distant third now, they said warning cadres about “degenerating bourgeoisie tendencies.”
Latest in the series of complaints is the alleged involvement of some leaders in smuggling banned tobacco products in Alapuzha. A leader was expelled and another, a municipal councillor, was suspended on Tuesday. The issue came to light after police arrested a party functionary identified as Ijaz Iqbal who was carrying lakhs of packets of banned tobacco products in a truck from Tamil Nadu. The packs were reportedly concealed under vegetable sacks, police said.
Later, the police found that the truck belonged to a party councillor A Shanavas, who was active in party circles. Embarrassed, the CPI(M) expelled Iqbal and suspended Shanavas from the party on Tuesday. The party has also constituted an inquiry commission against him. Later, two party activists also approached the Enforcement Directorate with a complaint against Shanavas alleging that “he amassed huge properties in the name of public work.”
Even before the investigation began, state culture minister Saji Cherian, who was re-inducted in the cabinet last week, gave a clean chit to Shanavas. “There is no evidence against him and he will bounce back,” he said in Alapzuha.
In another case, two leaders of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (party’s youth wing) last month were expelled soon after their photos appeared in social media “drinking in a bar after participating in a day-long function against drugs”.
The party was forced to take action against some local leaders in Kannur after their names cropped up in gold smuggling cases. Two months back, in north Kerala, two party activists were stabbed to death by another group of workers over drug smuggling charges, according to police. There were also serious charges against local leaders in Kochi and Kozhikode for amassing huge wealth.
Last month, the party had circulated a rectification document urging from the lowest level functionaries to high rung leaders to undergo “course correction” and make “effective changes if there are deviations from ideology”.
It all started after senior leader P Jayarajan raised serious allegations against Left Democratic Front convener E P Jayarajan last month alleging he owned benami investment in a posh resort in Kannur. Later, the party was forced to brush it under the carpet after E P Jayarajan threatened to resign.
“Though party state secretary M V Govindan announced a rectification campaign it is not reaching grassroots as expected. It should start from the leaders’ level. We have to weed out undesirable tendencies and deviations at any cost,” said a senior leader , on anonymity. He also said the party will have to rein in trade unions who often give “a militant image to investors.”
Known for his tough ideological position, Govindan has been insisting for a course correction at all levels. “We will implement corrective sessions and all party members from top to bottom will be subjected to the process of self-criticism and scrutiny,” he had said last month while announcing the drive. But many senior leaders admit it privately that the “campaign failed to yield desired results”.
