ALAPPUZHA: The CPM is caught in a quandary over candidate selection for Kayamkulam and Chengannur. A section of district leaders and cadre have revolted forcing the district committee to toss the issue back to the state leadership. District secretary Saji Cheriyan and state committee member G Sudhakaran were almost isolated as a majority of DC members opposed their proposals. The District Committee which met on Friday failed to reach a consensus in spite of a heated debate during which G Sudhakaran reportedly staged a walkout. The meeting was convened after the state committee returned the original list which proposed the names of Bharanikavu block panchayat president Rajani Parekadan for Kayamkulam and K K Ramachandran Nair for Chengannur.
In the DC meeting, the name of former district panchayat president Pratibha Hari was proposed for Kayamkulam but was met with stiff resistance from one section, leading to a heated debate.
Some members came down heavily on district secretary Saji Cheriyan for openly declaring the candidature of K K Ramachandran Nair even before the state committee gave its nod. In the inaugural session of the Kerala University Youth festival at Chengannur, Saji had said that Ramachandran Nair will be the Left candidate. After Sudhakaran’s dramatic walkout, CC member T M Thomas Isaac announced that the meeting was over and the state committee will take a final decision. The factionalism in the party, which was in hibernation, started simmering after the proposals to field sitting MLA C K Sadasivan from Kayamkulam and C S Sujatha from Chengannur were rejected. Both are strong VS loyalists and the DC led by Saji Cheriyan and G Sudhakaran opposed both names and allegedly proposed their own loyalists instead.
Sadasivan’s supporters have questioned this.
The question going around in the party circles is that while three others from the district (Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, A M Arif) who have contested twice or more were given exemption why a different yardstick is being applied for Sadasivan.