CPI-M in Kerala caught between a once powerful secy & prodigal son
Thiruvananthapuram: Though the CPI-M in Kerala has always been known for its role in various movements and path breaking policies, all that glory appears to be diminishing because of two of its tallest present day leaders — Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and party state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
The party seems to be now passing through tough times. At the moment it is caught between a top IAS officer — M. Sivasankar, who was the secretary to Vijayan, and Bineesh Kodiyeri, the younger of the two sons of Balakrishnan.
Sivasankar has been questioned by Central agencies NIA, Enforcement Directorate and Customs, following the arrest of Swapna Suresh in a gold smuggling case. Swapna has already gone on record before these agencies that Sivasankar was her mentor.
Though Vijayan has adopted a tough demeanour and is handling the media successfully, it remains to be seen how far his strategy will help him to come out of the mess that he has landed in because of his once most trusted officer Sivasankar.
The two principal opposition outfits and traditional rivals, the Congress-led UDF and the state unit of the BJP, have been seeking the Chief Minister’s resignation on moral grounds. Vijayan, however, is standing his ground and repeating his statement that Sivasankar has been booted out and, hence, the buck stops there. He has even attacked former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Vijayan has said that his office is not like that of his predecessor Oommen Chandy’s office — where a con woman Saritha Nair wreaked havoc through her closeness to two of the staff members of Chandy.
While Vijayan was putting up a stout defence, came another shocker when news surfaced that Bineesh’s friend was picked up by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Bengaluru.
With the opposition parties scaling up their attacks on the CPI-M, fresh revelations are emerging about the “close relationship between Bineesh and his arrested friend Anoop Mohammed.” The two were frequently talking to each other on their mobiles.
Bineesh has already confirmed that they were friends and the last call made by Anoop was for seeking money to return from Bengaluru and he gave him Rs 15,000.
Even while Bineesh said that he knew Anoop since 2012, his family has categorically denied any involvement in drug dealings.
State BJP president K Surendran said that the statement by Bineesh about Anoop’s business deals was just a bluff.
“Bineesh was the one who has been funding the business of Anoop. What’s even more surprising is the stoic silence of the CPI-M. It’s time that the CPI-M breaks its silence on these drug dealings,” said Surendran.
But putting up a brave face, Bineesh said that this scandalous allegation against him was nothing new. “For the past nearly two decades, I have been hearing numerous allegations, hence this present slander is nothing new,” said Bineesh.
K. M. Shahjahan (former private secretary to CPI-M stalwart V. S.Achuthanandan) and presently one of the biggest critics of the CPI-M, said the party is now getting back what it gave to Chandy.
“They rode to power on the call list of Saritha Nair and got 94 seats (in the 2016 Assembly polls). They will use anything against their adversaries but none can say anything about their misdeeds,” said Shahjahan.
The coming days and weeks are going to be crucial for the two top CPI-M leaders, as any new scandals directly or indirectly on account of Sivasankar and Bineesh will hit not just the two, but the party as a whole, which is in power in Kerala only.