It was a political murder that had rocked Kerala. The ripples from the brutal killing of T P Chandrasekharan, a former CPI(M) leader who had floated a new party called the Revolutionary Marxist Party, in Vadakara in 2012 are yet to calm down. The allegation that the CPI(M) leadership was somehow involved in the murder—despite the party leadership’s steadfast denial—is very much alive.
The opposition has used the case to corner the LDF every election since then. The fact that K K Rema, Chandrasekharan’s wife, is now an MLA backed by the Congress-led UDF has also kept the politics around the murder alive. It is indeed a subject the ruling CPI(M) would prefer to forget.
The LDF government was again caught on the wrong foot as officials from the Kannur Central Jail sought police reports on CPI(M) workers undergoing life sentences in the case to grant them early remission as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. While handing out life sentences to the 12 convicts this February, the high court had said that nine of them would not be entitled to remission before completing 20 years of imprisonment.
The move by the Kannur prison officials is a blatant violation of this order. The opposition created a ruckus in the assembly claiming that it indicated the government was trying to protect the criminals. Rema alleged that the jail superintendent, on his own, could not have taken such a decision without the backing of the chief minister, who is also in charge of the home department.
The state government has been denying any hand in this ever since the controversy broke out. Insisting that none of those convicts are being considered for remission, the government has also ordered the suspension of the prison officials who had initiated the move. The opposition alleges that the government is trying to save face by scapegoating the officials.
The CPI(M) is not in a position to afford one more political misstep after the recent election rout. If the party and the government do not learn lessons from its mistakes, it might not take much time to disintegrate in the state as it did elsewhere. The leadership must realise that the party no longer has the sturdiness to withstand yet another faux pas.