Kannur (Keralam) | Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Monday hit out at Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Vijayan over his recent remarks against independent MLAs V Kunhikrishnan and T K Govindan, alleging that he was attempting to consolidate his control over the CPI(M).
Chennithala was referring to the remarks made by Vijayan at CPI(M) meetings in Payyannur and Thaliparamba, where he criticised the independent MLAs, who were former party leaders and won the Assembly elections with the support of the UDF.
Vijayan had called Thaliparamba independent MLA Govindan an "opportunist" and accused Payyannur MLA Kunhikrishnan of "betraying" the party by colluding with its opponents.
"For the past two days, the Leader of the Opposition in Keralam Assembly has been blaming and challenging the public during his own party meetings. 'The people made a mistake!' The party central committee identified shortcomings and mistakes and published them. Statements made by Vijayan, severely criticising even those findings of the central committee, are in fact a breach of discipline," Chennithala said.
"Is he above the party? Where does he get the authority to speak as if he is above the party?" he asked.
Chennithala also questioned the authority of the CPI(M) district leadership to allegedly threaten the two independent MLAs.
"The party district secretary is threatening Kunhikrishnan and Govindan Master. What authority does he have to threaten them? Does a party district secretary have the authority to intimidate people like that?" he asked.
He said the CPI(M) leadership should examine the reasons for its electoral defeat instead of blaming the people.
"In the last election, a strong wave of public anger erupted against Vijayan's administration in Keralam. The people brought that government down. The UDF received an unprecedented majority in history. Yet, they learn nothing from this. They still claim that the people made a mistake and that the people should correct themselves," Chennithala said.
He also criticised remarks by the CPI(M) Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh that the party's defeat in Thaliparamba was due to the selection of a woman candidate.
"Even though the central committee sharply criticised the candidate selection in Thaliparamba as a failure, the district secretary claims that they lost simply because the candidate was a woman. So women cause losses? The district secretary is saying that choosing a woman candidate leads to defeat because she is a weak candidate. Isn't that an insult to women?" he asked.
Chennithala termed the remark "misogynistic" and alleged that the recent CPI(M) meetings were part of a "political move" by Vijayan to consolidate his control over the party.
"It is to consolidate power within the full party state committee and maintain their own strength. It is Vijayan's tactic to seize control of the party," he alleged.
Chennithala also noted that CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan had not attended the meetings and asked whether he endorsed the remarks made by CPI(M) leaders.
MV Govindan's wife, P K Shyamala, unsuccessfully contested the election from Thaliparamba.
"Does Govindan Master endorse what Ragesh said? He should clarify that," he said.