The True face of Comrades
Read two news about our Comrades
Barred by CPM, rebel leader gains public support
July 18, 2008, Indian Express, Shaju Philip
Palakkad, July 17: Expelled CPI-M leader M R Murali, who had served the party’s youth wing — DYFI — for several years at both the state and national levels, knew that whistle-blowers do not survive for long in the Communist party. Murali, who had been the vice-chairman of Shornoor Municipality in Kerala’s Palakkad district, was shown the door recently, when he stood up for two developmental projects that wereallegedly delayed due to corrupt elements in his own party.
The 42-year-old leader, who belonged to the faction led by V S Achuthanandan, became an irritant for the party’s district leadership last year when he wanted the municipality to blacklist a contractor who had failed to complete a road work worth Rs 8 lakh.
“The contractor who got the work was, in a clandestine manner, working on behalf of a party leader. It was all benami. The leader in question belonged to the rival faction. All efforts to initiate action against the contractor failed, as he had the backing of the party leadership. An MLA even prevented the council from including the issue as part of the agenda of a council meeting,¶ Murali alleged.
The next issue that virtually led to the collapse of the bridge between the former DYFI state vice-president and the party was the delayed work on a railway over-bridge in the municipality. The project was conceived when Murali was the municipal chairman, between 2002 and 2005. The municipality paid the entire amount of Rs 80 lakh for the bridge, estimate of which was prepared by the Railways. The work, awarded in May 2007, should have been completed within six months. But the contractor abandoned the work midway, alleging that the Railways had failed to meet certain commitments. In the meantime, the Railways revised the estimate to Rs 1.37 crore and asked the municipality to pay the extra amount.
“I told the council members and party leaders that the motive behind the move to revise the work estimate should be looked into. But nobody seemed to be bothered about it. The demand to seek an allocation of state fund for the project also found no takers in the party,¶ he said, adding that the work was delayed to serve the business interests of a section of leaders in the party.
The bridge was a long-standing demand of a number of people within the municipality. Hence, people wanted political parties to lead an agitation so that the work was completed. However, political parties, including the CPI-M, were reluctant to support the public demand for an agitation. The people then staged a protest under the banner of a local social outfit. When Murali addressed a public meeting last month on the issue, the party viewed it as indiscipline and asked him to vacate the post of municipality vice-chairman. Murali found no valid reason to quit and defied the party’s direction. He was immediately shown the door — the first disciplinary action in the party, post-Kottayam state conference.
The party action led to a revolt in Shornoor and Ottappalam region and of the 22 CPI(M) councillors in the region, nine joined hands with Murali. The party sword fell on six of them. However, realising that further action would lead to the erosion of the party base in the area, three pro-Murali councillors were left untouched.
“A CPI-M MLA had tried to thwart developmental activities in Shornoor to further his own interests. It is a pity that the party stood by corrupt leaders and jettisoned whistle-blowers,¶ said Murali, who had also been a member of DYFI central committee.
Post-expulsion, Murali became a threat for the party in Shornoor. He organised a mass convention and formed an outfit, People’s Development Committee, with grassroots level units in Shornoor and Ottapalam belt. Murali said that he would organise a state-level body of all like-minded party workers. “Many leaders who had faced party axe on faction feud have agreed to associate with me. The agenda of this body would go beyond Lok Sabha polls,¶ he said, adding that the official faction, controlled by party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, has either expelled or downgraded leaders who had stood for public cause.
editor@expressindia.com
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/337153.html
CPM’s high ground: My criminal MP more moral than yours
Manoj C G, Indian Express, July 18, 2008
New Delhi, July 18: Trust the Left to take the moral high ground and not let facts get in the way. A year ago, jailed RJD MPs Pappu Yadav and Mohammed Shahabuddin helped the UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil become the first woman President by casting their votes in a crunch situation.
Yadav and Shahabuddin also voted in favour of Hamid Ansari, the Left’s nominee for the Vice Presidential candidate later. But now the CPM, after its separation from the UPA, is citing “political morality¶ to slam the ruling alliance’s attempts to bring both these jailbirds and LJP MP Suraj Bhan to take part in the crucial July 22 trust vote.
And not naming those jailbird MPs who are likely to vote on the same side as the Left. “While legally they may get the right to attend Parliament and vote, there is a question of political morality involved,¶ said a CPM Politburo statement today. “The Congress leadership will be seen by the entire country as taking recourse to convicted criminals for sustaining their government.¶
Yadav was convicted in the CPM MLA Ajit Sarkar murder case and Shahabuddin is jailed in a case of kidnapping with intent to murder. Both had voted in favour of both Patil and Ansari. While Yadav represents the Madhepura Lok Sabha seat, Shahabuddin is elected from Siwan constituency.
Interestingly, the CPM Politburo’s statement today mentioned the names of only Yadav, Shahabuddin and Bhan, omitting jailbirds who are expected to vote against the UPA. These include BSP’s Umakant Yadav, Samajwadi Party’s Afzal Ansari and expelled SP MP Atiq Ahmed who are being aggressively courted by the BSP.
So far, Ansari hasn’t switched, claim SP leaders, while Atiq Ahmed has already said he will vote against the UPA government. Phoolpur MP Ahmed, expelled from the Samajwadi Party after his name figured in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, had voted in favour of Left nominee Ansari defying a party whip to vote for UNPA candidate Rashid Masood.
When asked why the Left had not opposed Yadav and Shahabuddin voting during the Presidential election, CPM Central Committee member Nilotpal Basu said, “That we will have to see, those circumstances were different and not the same as this.¶
CPM leaders claim the party did not include the names of anti-UPA jailbird MPs because they were facing trial and were not convicted. This argument rings hollow given that Shahabuddin was convicted in May, two months before he voted in the Presidential elections in July last year.
Significantly, the BSP, which has made common cause with the Left to oppose the nuclear deal, is wooing both Ansari, Ahmed, and Umakant Yadav, who was expelled from the party earlier for criminal activities.
