THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM has set up a commission to probe lapses on the part of senior leader G Sudhakaran in election campaigning at Ambalappuzha constituency. Central committee member Elamaram Kareem and state committee member KJ Thomas form the two-member panel.
A CPM state committee member and former minister, Sudhakaran is one of the party's seniormost leaders in Kerala. A highly influential leader in Alappuzha, he has been the face of the party in the district. It's after a long time that a party probe is being conducted against a state committee member.
The two-day CPM state committee meet, which concluded on Saturday, decided to probe the allegations against Sudhakaran. He had skipped the state committee meet on both days.
The state committee meet had on Friday witnessed severe criticism of the leader. The election review report, which mentioned his name for lapses in campaigning, was highly critical of him. Sudhakaran may even face disciplinary action after the probe.
At the meet on Friday, two leaders from Alappuzha - Saji Cheriyan and H Salam - criticised Sudhakaran without however mentioning his name for the latter's lackadaisical approach during campaigning.
The deliberate lapse on the part of the senior leader has come as a blot amidst the party's shining victory. It's unfortunate that such a scenario played out at Alappuzha, home to quite a few party stalwarts at one point in time, they said.
From the archives | Party workers in Kayamkulam had back-stabbed me: G Sudhakaran
The party Alappuzha district leadership had earlier raised allegations against the senior leader for being indifferent in campaigning at Ambalappuzha constituency after he was denied a seat. Following this, the CPM secretariat discussed the matter in detail and brought it before the state committee to take a final call.
The party district committees will probe into the defeats of LDF candidates Jose K Mani and MV Shreyamskumar at Pala and Kalpetta constituencies respectively.