Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan has said that he will defend the party against all forms of attack. Mr. Govindan said this after unveiling the ’Kodiyeri Smriti Mandapam’ at Payyambalam here on Sunday, the first death anniversary of the former State secretary of the party Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
On the “escalating” media scrutiny in Kerala, which he says is driven by an anti-communist agenda, Mr. Govindan said there had been a noticeable increase in media coverage targetting the CPI(M) over the past two weeks. Mr. Govindan highlighted certain incidents that were not reported by the media. He mentioned the recent incident at Kadakkal in Kollam district where a soldier claimed that he was assaulted by members of a religious extremist organisation. The incident even prompted questions on the state of governance in the State under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. However, police investigation found that the soldier and his friend had cooked up the incident, leading to their subsequent arrest, he said. Mr. Govindan expressed his concerns over the media’s role in initially disseminating misleading information and then neglecting the truth of the cases. He questioned the motive of certain media outlets that failed to accurately report the outcome of the investigation.
Earlier, delivering a heartfelt tribute, he said the late Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had a unique talent for charting the right path to effectively address complex problems. His absence was felt strongly, especially when the party encountered major attacks, the CPI(M) State secretary said.
‘Fake cases’
CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M.V. Jayarajan raised concerns over the Enforcement Directorate’s actions, alleging that they were pursuing fake cases against political leaders. Following the recent case involving Vadakanchery municipal councillor and CPI(M) leader P.R. Aravindakshan, there was growing apprehension about the possibility of false cases being filed against more leaders, he said.
He referred to a case in 2022 where funds from the bank account of a late Chandramati were erroneously associated with another Chandramati who received a meagre pension. Mr. Jayarajan said that he would not be surprised if a false case was charged against even the late Kodiyeri. Drawing attention to the presence of several individuals named Jayarajan in Kannur district, he expressed concerns that the ED might wrongly target them due to the shared name.
Public Works Minister Mohamed Riyas, Member of Parliament V. Sivadasan, MLAs K.K. Shailaja and Kadannappally Ramachandran, CPI(M) central committee member P.K. Sreemathi, and other leaders were present.
