THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state leadership will take up the issue of former MLA A Padmakumar’s public statement against minister Veena George’s induction into the party state committee. At the recently concluded CPM state conference in Kollam, Veena was inducted as a special invitee to the state committee. However, Padmakumar came out against it and told the media that while selecting leaders to higher committees their organisational experience must be considered.
CPM state secretary M V Govindan told reporters on Thursday that though the state committee did not take up the matter, it would discuss the issue soon. “Issuing public statements is against party discipline. A matter that should be raised in the committee should not be aired in public,” he said.
The secretary also dismissed Padmakumar’s claim that seniority is the criterion for selecting leaders to higher committees. “Experience is not the criterion. The leadership is looking for a convergence of new and experienced leaders. Merit and value are the bases of inducting leaders to committees,” he said.
Govindan said that the party would fight the Enforcement Directorate’s move to question its MP and former minister K Radhakrishnan both legally and politically.
He also criticised the RSS workers for obstructing Tushar Gandhi and raising slogans against him during a function in the Thiruvananthapuram district.