THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Giving yet another jolt to the beleaguered CPI over the ‘payment seat’ controversy, Venjaramoodu Sasi, who was stripped off his post of the Thiruvananthapuram district secretary and demoted to the district council, is all set to join the RSP and thereby migrate to the UDF fold.
A final decision on his switchover will be finally taken by the RSP state committee slated for August 15. Sasi held discussions with RSP leader and Labour Minister Shibu Baby John on Monday and expressed his wish to join the party. ‘’I’m happy and proud to work together with the RSP’’, Sasi said.
Shibu Baby John welcomed Sasi’s decision to sever ties with the CPI and LDF and join the RSP .’’It was agreed in principle to accommodate him in the party. It is for the RSP state committee to take a final decision’’,the Minister told ‘Express’. Asked if the decision to accept Sasi would not be construed as protecting a person against whom charges of corruption have been raised on an issue unheard of in the communist fold, Shibu said that no particular reasons have been given for taking action against the former. “The T’Puram Lok Sabha seat was apparently a CPM-sponsored payment deal through the CPI, where everyone has taken a share of the pie. While moving against Sasi, no particular reason was attributed nor his specific role in granting the payment seat was listed either. After all, wasn’t he the district secretary till the other day after the alleged payment deal?’’ Shibu asked.
‘’As a person who was in the path of Marxist-Leninism, my view is that Sasi needs to be accommodated politically. Allegations and other issues related to him are those which should be looked upon afterwards,’’ he felt. Venjaramoodu Sasi, who had taken an extraordinary stand soon after the final call of the CPI state council to demote him that he would not remain in the party for not more than a couple of days, has begun to prove that he really meant it by seeking new pastures. It is unthinkable for communist parties that a person of the stature of a district secretary is flocking to another party in no time after ignoring the iron curtains and values often claimed by the Left, though the RSP is also ideologically Left-oriented.
But, the CPI seems to be hapless or not at all eager to undo the damage by expelling him or initiate other measures to retrieve lost ground and prevent further erosion from the ranks of both leaders and cadre of the party. P Ramachandran Nair, former district secretary, who also faced the axe and landed in district council has mellowed a day after the announcement of disciplinary measures. He had decided to lodge a complaint with the party control commission against the action.