Kochi: Acting on the CPM state leadership's suggestion, the party suspended its Ernakulam district secretariat members NC Mohanan and CK Manishankar over non-performance during the Kerala Assembly Polls in April.
The duo has been suspended for a year over the party's performance in the district. The district committee meeting was attended by Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and CPM state acting-secretary A Vijayaraghavan.
It was also decided to remove Kothattukulam area secretary Shaju Jacob from the party.
Disciplinary action was also taken on party members who were in charge of Piravom and Perumbavoor constituencies.
With the district and state conventions around the corner, the district leadership had been under pressure to act boldly.
The state body was reportedly unhappy with the district leadership over its former soft approach on the non-performing members.
Earlier, Manishankar was demoted to the district committee over the party's failure in the Thrikkakara Constituency, where UDF's PT Thomas had defeated CPM's J Jacob by a margin of over 14,000 votes. Firm action was also taken against KD Vincent in connection with the same.
The state leadership had demanded action on those responsible for the party's failure at Thrippunithura, where CPM's M Swaraj lost to K Babu of UDF by a margin less than 1,000 votes.
A party commission comprising state committee member Gopi Kottamurikkal, and district secretariat members KJ Jacob, CM Dinesh Mani, and PM Ismail had submitted a report on the party's failure in the constituencies in Ernakulam district.
Ernakulam was one of the three districts in the state, the others being Malappuram and Wayanad, where the UDF had an upper hand over the CPM-led LDF in the assembly polls. The LDF had retained power by amassing 99 seats of the total 140.
