THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rejecting outright the persistent complaints raised by Left independent MLA P V Anvar against the chief minister’s office and two senior police officers, the CPM leadership has decided not to take action on the same.
Irked over Anvar putting both the party and the Left government in a spot by raising allegations against CPM secretary Govindan says govt have acted on Anwar's complaint, party has nothing to do with his allegations against the chief minister's political secretary Sasi and top police officers, the party leadership snubbed the Nilambur MLA for raising the allegation publicly.
The CPM has decided to ignore Anvar’s complaint for now, and hence, there won’t be any party probe against Sasi. The party suspects a conspiracy behind the entire development.
At the party secretariat meeting on Friday, state secretary M V Govindan informed others that there was no allegation against Sasi in Anvar’s complaint to the party leadership. It contains his accusations against certain police officers that he had raised through the media.
Since the government has formed an investigation team under the state police chief to look into the issues raised by the MLA, the party leadership decided not to give it further consideration.
“Anvar’s complaint is about issues to be dealt with at the administrative level, and since the government has taken action, the party has nothing to do,” Govindan told reporters after the secretariat meeting.
At the meeting, leaders expressed discontent over the way Anvar raised the issue through the media. They pointed out that if he had an issue he should have brought it to the notice of the party.
There was also criticism against Anvar for putting the chief minister’s office under a cloud of suspicion without any concrete evidence. “It became a political weapon in the hands of the Opposition,” a state committee leader told TNIE.
Anvar snubbed for raising allegations publicly
“Now, the party has to defend the government on a non-issue. Anvar is CPM’s parliamentary party member. He is bound to keep the discipline. This is embarrassing,” he said. In the secretariat, some leaders opined that the party has to publicly denounce Anvar for raising issues in such a manner.
The CPM leadership also suspects a conspiracy being hatched behind the scenes. The leadership is of the view that Anvar raising allegations about a police officer in the rank of ADGP and the CM’s political secretary is a direct attack against the CMO.
The party also views the open support to Anvar by former minister K T Jaleel and former MLA Karat Razak seriously. CPM suspects a move by the Muslim League and the UDF to rope in four of its independent minority leaders — three of them MLAs — to the League camp.
“The decisions to form an investigative team and suspending the Pathanamthitta SP were taken to assure leaders like Anvar that the government takes their grievances seriously,” a senior CPM leader told TNIE. The CPM knows very well that, after the gold smuggling case, any allegation against the CMO would jeopardise the LDF chances in the byelections.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Govindan said: “Anvar has neither named P Sasi in his complaint nor raised any allegation against him. Hence, there is no need to look into that matter. Anvar has only raised allegations through the media. So, we don’t have to consider any issue related to Sasi. There is no complaint against Sasi in front of the party.
There are also no political allegations against Sasi. We don’t think Sasi has failed in fulfilling his duties. Unless a factual allegation is raised it cannot be considered seriously. One should raise it with facts. The party will consider the issue if needed once the ongoing investigation is over,” he said.
Govindan also snubbed Anvar for raising the allegation publicly. “This is not how a CPM parliamentary party member should raise an issue. Since he’s not a CPM member, we cannot tell him about the party methods. The CM has full control over the CMO,” he said.
The party secretary also dismissed allegations over low-ranking officers in the SIT probing allegations against the ADGP. “The DGP is heading the investigation. Other officers are there to assist him,” he said.
Responding to questions, Govindan said the investigation will also probe whether the ADGP had any role in the Thrissur fiasco. “The Opposition has degraded to such a state that it has to rely on an issue raised by a ruling party MLA. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan’s allegation that the ADGP met RSS leaders on behalf of the CM is only to conceal UDF’s vote erosion to BJP in Thrissur,” he said.
