THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Coming down heavily on Minister Saji Cherian for his communally polarising statement, CPM state secretary M V Govindan has cautioned party leaders against issuing such statements in the future. In the state committee meeting held on Saturday, Saji Cherian faced severe criticism from party colleagues over his statement on Kasaragod and Malappuram.
The minister had said that the communal polarisation in the local body elections could be understood just by looking at the names of the winning candidates in Kasaragod and Malappuram districts. He was forced to withdraw the statement after it became controversial.
After the Opposition UDF took it up as a political weapon, Govindan publicly denounced the minister’s statements.
The party leadership had also asked the minister to issue a public statement. In the state committee meeting, leaders criticised Saji Cherian for making such a statement when the party and LDF are going to face a crucial election.
They also noted that such statements would alienate Muslim minorities from the party. In the concluding speech, Govindan said, since the minister’s statement was against the party policy he had publicly denounced it. “No one should make such statements in the future against party principle,” he said.
The CPM state leadership has decided to leave it to the Kannur district leadership to take appropriate action against district committee member V Kunhikrishnan who accused some leaders of misappropriation of funds. Since the issue was raised years ago and settled, the leadership is of the view that there is no need to discuss it.
The party will take up candidate selection and seat sharing after the end of the three rallies led by M V Govindan, Binoy Viswam and Jose K Mani in different regions of the state.