KOZHIKODE: The tussle between CPM and CPI over the Munnar land encroachment issue worsened on Wednesday with CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran rejecting chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's call for a meeting on the issue, saying the government is run not by the CPM alone.
The CPI and CPM are the two main constituents in Kerala's ruling LDF government,
Kanam Rajendran said any decision on the Munnar issue should be based only on the Kerala Land Conservancy Act, 1957 and the Kerala Land Conservancy (Amendment) Act, 2009.
Reiterating CPI's stance against chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's call for a high-level meeting on July 1 to discuss the Munnar issue based on a memorandum submitted by political leaders from Idduki, Kanam said, “We are not aware of any high-level meeting called by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Why should the revenue minister attend a meeting which he is not aware of? The government should not act as per the wish of a party. It has the right to protect an officer who is discharging duties as per the rules.” He was refering to Devikulam sub-collector V. Sriram who took on the Munnar land mafia, which provoked the ire of M M Mani, the local CPM MLA.
Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan also informed the chief minister that there was no need to call such a meeting to discuss the land encroachment issue.
The CPI state executive also criticised party leader C A Kurien’s decision to sign a memorandum submitted to the chief minister on the Munnar issue.
Meanwhile, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the party has not intervened in the functioning of the government. “The CPI has not raised any complaint in the LDF on the Munnar issue. If they raise a complaint, the LDF will discuss it,” Kodiyeri added.