Alappuzha: The CPM on Saturday decided to publicly reprimand its veteran leader G Sudhakaran for his alleged bid to hamper the party's chances in the Ambalappuzha constituency during the assembly polls earlier this year.
It is understood that the state secretariat had recommended for the admonition based on the report of an internal enquiry that found laxity on his part. The decision comes as a severe blow for the former minister.
A two-member commission comprising Elamaram Kareem and KJ Thomas has found that Sudhakaran had cold-shouldered the party's chances in Ambalappuzha, where H Salam had been offered his seat.
Salam's margin of victory (11,125 votes against M Liju of INC) had upset the CPM and resulted in fingers being raised at Sudhakaran for his lack of cooperation during the campaigning.
The commission was critical of Sudhakaran's general attitude, accusing him of turning his back to rumours that had painted Salam in a bad light. It also found a lack of interest on the part of Sudhakaran in helping Salam overcome a financial crunch during the election campaigning.
Sudhakaran staying away from the district and state-level review meetings have also been reportedly mentioned in the report.
The CPM state secretariat will pronounce a verdict, CPM state acting-secretary A Vijayaraghavan had said the other day. It is understood that there had been demands from within the party for demoting Sudhakaran.
The former Minister for Public Works in the previous Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet has been out of favour since the allegations surfaced and in August, the veteran CPM man had, in his peculiar style, penned a poem reflecting upon the predicament he was in.
Even as Sudhakaran claimed that the poem titled 'Nettavum Kottavum' (gain and loss) was merely an appeal to the younger generation, political observers felt otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Sudhakaran camp is hopeful of leniency from the state leadership.
