Kerala CPM sends strong messages against factionalism; Congress still struggles

While the CPM in Kerala is going ahead with stern actions even against senior leaders for factionalism during the Assembly elections despite the thumping victory for the party in the election, the Congress that suffered the back to back defeat in elections is still struggling to plug the open feud among the leaders.

The CPM state committee's decision on Saturday to publicly censure senior leader G Sudhakaran has indeed sent a strong message of the party leadership against rebel activities in the party. Sudhakaran, who was a former minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government and known for his plain-speaking, invited the action for being non-cooperative during candidate section and the election campaign in his home town Alappuzha district in South Kerala.

Over the last few months, CPM had taken actions against many prominent local leaders of the party for working against the interests of the party during the elections. Party sources said that the present development close on the heels of the party state conference was sending a strong message of dominance of the present leadership under the control of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Also Read | Rival Congress factions in Kerala in no mood to lie low

Action against a senior leader like Sudhakaran also shows the supremacy of the Kannur lobby of the party. The return of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to the state secretary post could be another major move of the Kannur lobby. Balakrishnan, who is a close confident of Vijayan, had to keep off from the state secretary post citing medical reasons after his son Bineesh Kodiyeri was held by central agencies in connection with his links with a Bengaluru-based drug trafficking racket.

Meanwhile, open war of words among the top leaders was still continuing in the Congress in Kerala. Former Kerala PCC presidents Mullappally Ramachandran and V M Sudheeran and incumbent PCC president K Sudhakaran were still engaged in accusing each other openly. The major factions in the party were also demanding that Sudhakaran should face the upcoming organisational elections and the ongoing reorganisation of the party should be stopped.

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