KANNUR: In a major jolt to the CPM ahead of the assembly elections, the party’s Kannur district committee member V Kunhikrishnan on Friday alleged large-scale financial irregularities within the party, including misappropriation of funds collected for the family of slain party worker Dhanaraj. The committee has rejected the allegations.
Kunhikrishnan claimed that Rs 46 lakh was embezzled from the Rs 1 crore raised for the family and that repeated complaints supported with evidence were ignored by the party leadership. He also accused the Payyannur area committee of diverting funds meant for office construction and election campaigns, and protecting those allegedly responsible for the irregularities.
The allegations were levelled in the run-up to the release of Kunhikrishnan’s book ‘Nethruthathe Anikal Thiruthanam’, which reportedly exposes factionalism, patronage and corruption within the CPM. He alleged that Payyannur MLA T I Madhusoodanan and then Payyannur area committee secretary K P Madhu were involved in the diversion of funds.
“Dhanaraj was killed on July 11, 2016. The same year, it was decided to raise funds to support his family and to invest the amount on building a house and pursuing the legal case. While a house was constructed, financial statements up to 2021 were never presented. I was assigned to audit the accounts ahead of the assembly session.
What I got were a shocking set of figures. It was under these circumstances that the Dhanaraj fund came under scrutiny,” Kunhikrishnan told reporters.
He alleged that Madhusoodanan was directly involved in the embezzlement. “There was also embezzlement of `70 lakh from the office construction fund and over Rs 1 crore from election campaign fund. Fake receipts were used. The leadership was informed about the fraud with proof, but no action was taken. The inquiry commission it announced was mere eyewash,” he said.
In a statement later, the CPM Kannur district committee rejected Kunhikrishnan’s allegations and said the issues he flagged were discussed and settled by the party years ago. The district committee, after deliberations, had accepted the findings of a commission which concluded that there was no personal embezzlement of funds by anyone, except for lapses in the timely submission of income and expenditure statements, it said.