Voices of dissent emerge a day after CPI(M)’s show of unity in Kerala

A march taken out through the Kollam town on March 9, 2025 (Sunday) in connection with the State conference of the CPI(M).
| Photo Credit: C. SURESHKUMAR

Voices of dissent and protest surfaced a day after the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] put up a united face at the conclusion of its State conference in Kollam on Sunday (March 9, 2025).

A. Padmakumar, the party’s Pathanamthitta district secretariat member and former MLA, publicly resented that despite his “52 years of service”, he was “passed over” at the conference for a seat in the State committee. 

He took strong exception that the conference elevated Health Minister Veena George, with barely nine years of experience in the party, as a permanent invitee to the State committee while lauding her “administrative acumen”. 

Mr. Padamakumar told reporters in Pathanamthitta that the party had “not followed the principle” of inducting individuals into higher committees based on organisational contributions. He reaffirmed his faith in the CPI(M).

Mr. Padmakumar caused a media stir on Sunday by leaving the conference venue early and expressing his disappointment in a now-deleted ‘cheating, betrayal and disrespect’ Facebook post. 

In Kannur, CPI(M) State committee member P. Jayarajan’s son, Jain Raj, appeared to take an oblique dig at his father’s “non-inclusion” in the State secretariat by reposting an old Facebook post by party State secretariat member M. Swaraj which said: “Did you expect a different fate in present-day India?”. 

Mr. Jayarajan, a CPI(M) State committee member for the past 27 years, refused to comment when contacted by The Hindu. 

Meanwhile, a profile change by a Kannur district secretariat member N. Sukanya, was interpreted as an expression of solitary with Mr. Jayarajan as it contained a Che Guevara quote. “If you tremble with anger at every injustice, you are my comrade”, she quoted the iconic revolutionary leader. 

Ms Sukanya told The Hindu that some quarters had misinterpreted her post and she harboured no grievance against the party. “It was the right thing to say at the successful conclusion of the State conference,“ she said. 

But she said she would have wanted the party to include more women in leadership roles in the party organisation.

Speaking to reporters in Palakkad, CPI(M) central committee member A K Balan said: “Communist consciousness” obligated members not to empower class enemies through their actions or statements, underscoring Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) invitation to Mr. Padmakumar to join its ranks. 

He said the party seriously viewed such transgressions, including leaking organisational matters to the media. “Infringing on party secrecy and factionalism are identical twins. They always march in lockstep”, Mr. Balan said. 

CPI(M) Pathanamthitta district secretary Raju Abraham said the party had taken a serious view of Mr. Padmakumar’s statement, who he termed an important party leader. The party’s district committee will likely meet on Wednesday to take stock of the developments.