KANNUR: After the severe shock it suffered following Shuhaib murder, the Congress is gradually gaining its lost ground in Kannur politics. Taking advantage of the public resentment over the murder of the Youth Congress leader, the party has succeeded in reinvigorating its rank and file by launching a frontal attack on the CPM and the police with their tallest leader in the district K Sudhakaran launching a Gandhian model hunger strike which has put the police and the government under tremendous pressure.
For the time being, the CPM seems to be on the backfoot, trying to fend off the bouncers unleashed by the Congress. The CPM has been holding its head high after the grand conclusion of its district conference which proclaimed the party’s strength and growth in the district. All of a sudden, the entire scenario changed and the party’s image has taken a severe beating.
Though the CPM leaders repeatedly claim the party had no role in the murder of the YC leader, North Zone DGP Rajesh Dewan stated on Monday that Akash Thillankeri and Rijin Raj, who were arrested on Sunday, have party affiliations and they were directly involved in the murder. However, Congress leaders have refused to buy the police theory.
They brushed aside the DGP’s claims that the two persons arrested are not proxies. And the Congress leaders decided to strengthen the stir with Ramesh Chennithala announcing on Tuesday that Sudhakaran’s hunger strike would continue indefinitely. The passion and emotion expressed by the Congress workers are there for all to see, said Satheeshan Pacheni, DCC president.
“From here on, we are not going to let the CPM dictate the terms in the district. This should be the last political murder in the district. Our workers have woken up from deep slumber. We will make the CPM answer for its murderous politics,” said Pacheni.Emerging from the shadow of two successive poll defeats, Sudhakaran looks stronger and ready to take on the CPM. Fighting fire with fire was his credo in the past.
But, in the changed scenario, he has gone for a Gandhian model hunger strike to put the government and the police under pressure. After flying back from UAE a day after the murder of Shuhaib, Sudhakaran has been in the forefront of the Congress attack against the CPM.
“Nothing happens in Kannur without the knowledge of Pinarayi and Jayarajan. We have no faith in the police. We want the police to bring out the conspiracy behind the attack and arrest all the accused involved in it. We don’t want any proxies provided by the party,” said Sudhakaran.
Chennithala slams police
Kozhikode: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday came down heavily on the state police saying it was trying to save the real culprits in the murder of Youth Congress leader Shuhaib in Kannur. “We don’t trust the investigation team. The probe is headed by Kannur Range IG Mahipal Yadav, who has got permission for Central deputation,” Chennithala told reporters here. “If the police see conspiracy behind the murder, then it should book the accused under Section 120 (b). Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who has been posting comments on film songs in Facebook, reacted to the brutal murder only after six days,” he added.
Youth Congress demands arrest of ‘killer’ Jayarajan
T’Puram: The Youth Congress state leadership has demanded the arrest of Kannur CPM secretary P Jayarajan maintaining that if even the ‘dummy accused’ produced in the Shuhaib murder case is professing an intense bond with him then Jayarajan will have full knowledge on who the ‘real killers’ are and their whereabouts. ‘’The name of the CPM leader who issues the writ to finish off political opponents should be changed as ‘killer’ Jayarajan. He should be arrested immediately,” demanded YC state president Dean Kuriakose, who also announced the 48-hour fast he had undertaken along with vice-president C R Mahesh, is being extended indefinitely for the police are colluding with the CPM to torpedo the probe using the ‘dummy accused’ . As Akash, who is in detained, is hell bent to not reveal the identity of the killers, the role of P Jayarajan is becoming more clear, Dean said.
Fake protest, says E P Jayarajan
Thrissur: CPM leader E P Jayarajan has ridiculed the allegations raised by Congress leader K Sudhakaran against the CPM. Jayarajan said Sudhakaran tried to kill him in the past and is staging a fake protest. “The 48-hour hunger strike will not be sufficient for Sudhakaran, who tried to kill me earlier,” he said. Sudhakaran has been staging a fake hunger strike demanding the arrest of the culprits in Shuhaib murder,” he added. By raising allegations that the police had arrested dummy culprits, Sudhakaran is trying to save somebody, alleged Jayarajan.The police have arrested two culprits. But Sudhakaran has come up with the comment that they were dummies. For whom is he making such comments. The police have not compromised on any details and are conducting a proper investigation, Jayarajan said.
Cultural leaders on ‘casual leave’, says Muraleedharan
Former KPCC president K Muraleedharan MLA, who spoke at Congress protest venue in Kannur lashed out against the silence of the intelligentsia. “The so called intellectuals and cultural leaders of Kerala have gone on casual leave,” said Muraleedharan. “The double standards of these people have been exposed with the murder. They are scared of the CPM,” he said. The agitation started by the Congress in Kannur will not be over till the target is achieved, he said.