What is disturbing is that the more the party tries to distance itself from murder politics, the more its cadre gets involved in it. It is a setback for the government.
Even as the CPM-led Left Democratic Front, which suffered a major setback in the general elections in Kerala, was busy pinning the blame on the people for its defeat, the party and the government are stumbling from one controversy to another. While the state CPM leadership is facing an apparent power struggle within its stronghold, Kannur, leading to accusations of attempt to murder and abetting a suicide of an NRI investor, the government has come under fire from a senior IAS officer for taking vindictive action against him for “exposing corruption”. The officer concerned belonging to the Kerala cadre, Raju Narayana Swamy, who shot into prominence as one of the “Three Cats” of former CPM Chief Minister, veteran V.S. Achuthanandan, has alleged that there was a move to dismiss him from civil service after he had taken “strong action against corruption”. The present LDF government had come to power mainly on the plank of anti-corruption and a promise to set things right. Three months ago, Swamy was removed from the post of chairman, Kerala Coconut Development Board under the Union Ministry of Agriculture, and sent back to the parent cadre. He had then moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and has not taken up any position as his petition is pending with the Tribunal. Now a committee headed by Kerala Chief Secretary, Tom Jose, has recommended Swamy’s dismissal to the Central government on the grounds of unauthorised absenteeism and irresponsible behaviour. In 2007 Swamy was one of the three officials (referred to as the “Three Cats”) deputed by the then Chief Minister, V.S. Achuthanandan to forcibly evict illegal encroachers from the hill resort of Munnar. “No need to worry about the colour, cats’ job is to catch mice,” V.S. had famously said at the time. The popular mission was aborted by the then state CPM leadership headed by the current Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, who had a running feud with Achuthanandan. Ever since, Swamy was not in the good books of the party. Swamy claims that he has damaging documents in his possession against certain illegal land dealing by Chief Secretary Tom Jose in Maharashtra. “He (Tom Jose) is afraid of me…so the move to remove me from service before I strike. Right from Munnar days I am on the black list of the political masters,” Swmy told newspersons. According to certain newspapers, the Chief Minister’s Office has expressed ignorance about any such move to dismiss the IAS officer, who has been tossed around 20 times in the past 22 years. Raju Narayana Swamy has got another ten years in service.
What is disturbing for the CPM is that the more the party tries to distance itself from murder politics, the more its cadre gets involved in it. The latest is the role of party MLA from Thalassery, A.N. Shamseer, not new to controversies, in an attack on CPM rebel candidate in Vadakara, C.O.T. Naseer, just before the counting of the Lok Sabha election. The attempt on the life of Naseer, one-time firebrand leader of the party youth wing in the Malabar, is seen as a manifestation of rift within CPM in the region. Supporters of P. Jayarajan, former Kannur district secretary, who was the CPM candidate in Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, see the attack as an attempt to frame him. Jayarajan, with a cult following among the party cadre in Kannur, had, of late, become a challenge to the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Jayarajan’s candidature itself was considered as an attempt by the ruling duo to ease him out of Kannur. While two other district secretaries of the party, who had lost the elections, continue to hold their posts in Kottayam and Ernakulam, a successor to Jayarajan was appointed as soon as his candidature was announced by the CPM in late March. Party insiders in Kannur say that the state leadership is either trying to prop up Shamseer as a counter to Jayarajan or the party has totally lost control over the “Mafia” which they use to “settle political scores”, a euphemism for elimination of rivals. Interestingly, the state CPM, right from the Chief Minister, has gone out of its way to defend Shamseer, a known Vijayan follower, with the police even refusing to record victim Naseer’s statement accusing the MLA of conspiring to murder him. The home portfolio is held by the Chief Minister and, as in the past, termed the attack as an “isolated incident”. Naseer, who had a narrow brush with death, is recuperating and is demanding a CBI inquiry into the incident.
Under public glare following the alleged suicide of an NRI investor who was denied an occupancy certificate for a Rs 12 crore convention centre in a party village, the CPM has suspended four officials of a party-ruled municipality in Kannur. Sajan Parayil, himself a CPM supporter, allegedly committed suicide after the Anthoor municipality in Kannur district denied him the occupancy certificate needed for starting commercial operations at the convention centre. According to local newspapers, Sajan’s wife, Beena, has alleged that the municipal chairperson, who is the wife of a CPM central committee member, had told her husband that he could forget about the licence “as long as she (the chairperson) was sitting in that chair”. Though the chairperson has denied such a statement from her, it is mysterious how a municipality, which is totally controlled by the CPM—there is no opposition there—could blame four officers with vindictive behaviour towards the investor. Here again, it is said that Sajan was a victim of intra-party rivalry between those belonging to the former secretary P. Jayarajan and those opposing him. Sajan was said to be close to Jayarajan. Whatever be the truth, the incident is considered a setback for the government which is advertising itself as investor friendly, not to speak of denting CPM’s image among its supporters in the Gulf.