THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Veteran CPM leader M M Lawrence’s daughter, Asha Lawrence has written a letter to CPM politburo members and CPM central committee members seeking action against former Ottapalam MP S Ajayakumar and Kerala Women’s Commission chairperson M C Josephine. She alleged that her complaint was given scant regard by them where these two CPM leaders have been preventing the party leadership from reinstating her in government job. Recently, she was removed from her data entry operator job at Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) after her son’s association with the BJP at the height of the Sabarimala women entry issue during October 2018.
Initially Asha was terminated from SIDCO for a day because her younger son, Milan, who was doing his Plus II then, had attended a protest meeting held under the aegis of the then state BJP president P S Sreedharan Pillai. When the issue snowballed into a major controversy, she was reinstated in SIDCO. But, Asha again drew the wrath of the CPM leadership after she wrote an article in RSS mouthpiece, Kesari, in April 2019, a few days before the Lok Sabha elections which led to her second termination. The mother - son duo then met Industries Minister E P Jayarajan who was not sympathetic to her woes.
In the letter to the PB and CC leaders, she has highlighted about her former colleague, Padma, who is very close with Lilly, CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s sister-in-law (Vinodini Kodiyeri’s sister) who had allegedly initiated workplace harassment against Asha before Kerala State SC/ST Commission. The police had maintained that it was a false complaint. She was informed by E P Jayarajan that the decision to sack her was a “party decision” for complaining against Lilly, writing an article in Kesari and Milan’s decision to support the BJP.
“I had got work excellence certificates from SIDCO management twice. When I had every right to be reinstated, Ajayakumar, former MP, who is the current Kerala SC/ST Commission member, is now taking revenge against me now. Few years ago, he had misbehaved with me during 2009 and 2010 which led me to bring it to the attention of the then CPM State and central leaderships which obviously did not go down well with him. Josephine also intervened in my family matters where she has been character assassinating me,” said Asha.
She had also met CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury at Thycaud Guest House during last August where she gave a written complaint to him. TNIE spoke to Ajayakumar and Josephine, where they both termed it as “baseless allegations.”
“I have only tried to help her years ago. There is another Left trade union leader with the same name. It must be probably him who might have misbehaved with her,” said Ajayakumar.Josephine challenged Asha to prove that she was playing spoilsport in getting her reinstated in SIDCO. The senior woman CPM leader who is also a CC member said she will be forced to take legal action against Asha for raising baseless allegations.But Asha remained firm in her allegations where she maintained that the LDF Government which came to power promising women empowerment and security to women has been denying her justice. Ever since Asha was terminated from SIDCO, she has been designing clothes for her friends where she is eking out a spartan life.