Thiruvananthapuram, 12 March(HS): Hardly a day after he expressed his displeasure and discontentment for keeping him off the party’s State Committee, the dissident leader A Padmakumar made a volte-face and declared that he would not leave the CPI(M) under any circumstances.
This follows the CPI(M) leadership’s stern warning to him to fall in line or face the consequences. It may be remembered that the CPI(M) members and supporters can never resign from the party once they identify themselves with the outfit. It is for the CPI(M) leadership to oust the member from the party’s primary membership or sentence the rebel to capital punishment. What happened to T P Chandrasekharan, the dissident leader of the party who dared to question Pinarayi Vijayan and others, is still fresh in the minds of the party cadres. Chandrasekharan met with a gruesome end as the CPI(M)’s executioners hacked him 51 times in 2012, in synchronization with his age. Padmakumar chose the safety of facing ouster from the party’s apex bodies over the fate of Chandrasekharan, as he is 65 years old.
“Do you want to end up as another Chandrasekhar, or will you fall in line”? Did party leadership pose the question to Padmakumar, who had given vent to his feelings in social media. Within minutes, Padmakumar removed the social media post and performed a “sashtanga namaskaaram” before the leadership.
He also informed the leadership that he was willing to face any kind of disciplinary action decided by the party and would not utter anything which would bring embarrassment to the CPI(M) leadership. Padmakumar reportedly told the party messengers who called on him late Tuesday evening that his loyalty was with Pinarayi Vijayan, his son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz and his daughter Veena Mohammed.
The CPI(M) leadership is believed to have told Padmakumar that it would release to the general public the misdeeds committed by him during his tenure as president of Travancore Devaswam Board, the apex authority that controls the temples in the Travancore region, including the Lord Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala.
Padmakumar’s newfound wealth and opulence have surprised even his foes in Kerala. Informed sources claim that it was after becoming the head of the Devaswam Board that Padmakumar could manage to build a palatial house at Aranmula and buy a fleet of limousines.
Hindusthan Samachar / Manohar Yadavatti
