Thiruvananthapuram | CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam on Friday said SNDP Yogam General Secretary Vellappally Natesan is not a person to evaluate the LDF or its constituent parties.
The remarks came amid a war of words between Viswam and Natesan after the CPI expressed concern over the CPI(M)'s closeness with the SNDP leader.
Replying to reporters, Viswam said he was not prepared to engage in a debate with 'respected' Vellappally Natesan. “No more debates,” he said.
However, responding to Natesan's comment that the CPI's stand on the PM SHRI scheme reflected a lack of coordination within the LDF and affected the local body elections, Viswam said the front was not seeking advice from the SNDP leader.
“We have not assigned Vellappally to give marks or point out what is right or wrong in the LDF or other parties. Vellappally is not part of the LDF. We are not waiting for his advice,” he said.
Asked why he referred to Natesan as a respected leader, Viswam said it was out of respect for the organisation named after Sree Narayana Guru.
“It is a big institution. Guru's name is among the brightest in Kerala's renaissance movement. The Communist Party respects his teachings and the institution in his name,” he said.
Viswam added that whoever occupies the post of general secretary should remember the great personalities who held it earlier, including Kumaran Asan.
Responding to Natesan's allegation that the CPI had received money from him illegally, Viswam said that if any such transaction had taken place, the amount would be returned.
“Funds might have been collected as part of elections or conventions. Other than that, no money has been collected through illegal means,” he said.
On Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's comment that he was not Binoy Viswam while responding to the CPI's objection to allowing Natesan to travel in the chief minister's car, Viswam said the statement was correct.
“Binoy Viswam is not Pinarayi Vijayan. We are different individuals with different perceptions and different stands. I do not reject his comment,” he said.
Viswam said everyone knows who is right in the matter concerning Natesan and declined to comment further.
Earlier, speaking in Alappuzha, Natesan had said that he would not travel in Viswam's car and claimed that senior CPI leaders had used his vehicles in the past.
“I never went to travel in his car,” Natesan said.
He also alleged that ahead of the local body elections, the CPI created unnecessary controversy over the LDF government signing the Centre's PM SHRI scheme.
“These debates created an impression of a lack of unity in the LDF among the public, especially when local body elections were approaching. When the issue escalated, the CPI(M) education minister had to go to the CPI office, apologise, and they later skipped the cabinet meeting, and this was leaked to the media,” he alleged.
Natesan said disagreements within the LDF should have been discussed and resolved internally.