THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI national council on Tuesday reprimanded state secretary Kanam Rajendran over criticising general secretary D Raja in public. The council found Kanam’s criticism ‘unacceptable’ and ‘improper’ as it violated Leninist organisational principles.
“The party has certain disciplinary norms. Criticising general secretary or any leader is not acceptable. Everybody is bound to follow party discipline,” Raja told reporters in New Delhi after the three-day national council meeting.
The war of words between Kanam and Raja followed the criticism levelled by CPI leader Annie Raja, who is also the wife of Raja, that an RSS faction was active in Kerala Police. Kanam and the CPI state council opined that Annie’s criticism was not bona fide and the central leader breached the basic courtesy by not discussing the issue with the state leadership before making the comment.
Subsequently, Raja supported Annie’s right to express opinion on women safety and Kanam criticised Raja. “CPI has the history of criticising chairman Dange,” Kanam had said after the state council meeting last month.
The state council also decided to convey its displeasure on Raja’s moves to the national council, but Raja said on Tuesday that the state leadership did not convey any criticism. The national council received a complaint from senior Kerala leader K E Ismail and that was taken for debate.
Ismail said Kanam’s action was improper and in violation of party discipline. It is learnt that leaders from other states supported Ismail’s stand and observed that Kanam should have showed restraint. The executive also made it clear that leaders can freely express opinion on social issues. The open reprimand has not gone down well with Kanam. He did not hide his displeasure when reporters approached him for a comment.
‘I also read party constitution’
T’Puram: “I also read party constitution and I’m a disciplined party worker,” he said, adding that there was no dispute in the party regarding the right of a leader to make public comments on social issues. Kanam’s stand on the issue of Kanhaiya Kumar leaving the party was also disapproved by the CPI. Raja said the party stood by the version that Kanhaiya deceived the CPI.
“He had said earlier that Congress is a sinking ship,” said Raja. Earlier, Kanam termed Kanhaiya’s exit ‘unfortunate’ and distanced himself from the version that Kanhaiya deceived the party. The national council also decided to organise next party congress in Vijayawada from October 14 to 18, 2022.