Coming out in support of Congress MP K Sudhakaran against whom allegations had been levelled that he had conspired to murder CPI-M leader E P Jayarajan, Kerala PCC President Ramesh Chennithala today said this was a CPI(M) ploy to divert attention from the murder of Marxist rebel T P Chandrasekharan.
A former aide of Sudhakaran had alleged that the MP was involved in a "conspiracy" to murder Jayarajan in early 1990s.
"CPI(M)'s new tactics to character-assassinate Sudhakaran by exerting undue influence on the former aide was to divert attention from the Chandrasekharan murder case which would not be sucessful," Chennithala told a meet-the-press programme here.
Nobody should be under the illusion that the Kannur leader could be isolated by such statements, he said.
The revelations were an attempt by the CPI(M) to save its "lost face," he said.
There was vast difference beween the allegations made against Sudhakaran and the disclosures made by M M Mani, former CPI-M Idukki district secretary, that CPI-M had annihilated its political foes, he said.
Mani's was a confession of the felonies committed by him while the former aide's allegations against Sudhakaran were influenced by somebody else, Chennithala alleged.
Describing as 'despicable' the reiteration of the CPI(M) State secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan that the party had 'no role' in the murder of Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam on May 4, he said those arrested in the case were Marxist leaders.
On the war of words between Vijayan and veteran Marxist V S Achuthanandan, he claimed their image in the minds of the people had touched an all time low.