KOCHI: Considering the comparatively poorer show of the party in Ernakulam district during the assembly polls in April this year, the CPM has taken stern action against two senior members of the district secretariat. The party suspended CITU state vice-president and senior leader C K Manisankar and Telk former chairman N C Mohanan for one year from the party, while Koothattukulam area committee secretary Shaju Jacob was expelled.
The other members suspended for one year are district committee members C N Sundaran, P K Soman and V P Saseendran; Vyttila area committee secretary KD Vincent; Perumbavoor area committee secretary P M Saleem and members MI Beeras, former MLA Saju Paul and RM Ramachandran; and members of Koothattukulam area committee Arun Sathyan and Arun V Mohan.
Earlier, the CPM state leadership had asked the Ernakulam district committee to take stern action against those who had contributed to the party’s poor show in the district. Though the CPM could register a historic win in all other districts across the state, the UDF retained its tally of nine out of 14 seats in the district. CPM also lost its prestigious Tripunithura seat.
“The district committee has appointed two commissions to inquire into the poor show in Ernakulam. CM Dinesh Mani and P M Ismail looked into the party candidates’ defeat in Perumbavoor and Piravom constituencies while Gopi Kottamurikkal and KJ Jacob looked into the defeat of LDF in Thrikkakara and Tripunithura,” said CPM district secretary CN Mohanan.
He said the reports of the two inquiry commissions were approved by the district committee. “Based on the reports, Shaju Jacob was dismissed from the party,” he said. Tuesday’s decision was taken at a meeting attended by senior CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and acting secretary A Vijayaraghavan. Earlier, considering the loss of CPM-supported independent candidate at Thrikkakara, Manisankar was demoted to the district committee from the district secretariat.
However, the state leadership had asked for stringent action to be taken against Manishankar. Likewise, the state secretariat also demanded strong action against the district leaders who are responsible for the defeat of M Swaraj in Tripunithura. Swaraj, who was the sitting MLA, lost the seat to former minister K Babu of UDF by a margin of just 1,009 votes.