On last day of Assembly session, senior CPI leader exposes CPM-RSS secret deal

Senior CPI leader E Chandrasekharan referred to the attack on him by RSS-BJP workers on May 16, 2016, the day he was declared the winner in Kasaragod's Kanhangad constituency. Photo: Manorama

When the Budget Session of the Kerala Assembly was cut short prematurely on Tuesday, something unusual happened.

Senior CPI leader and revenue minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan ministry E Chandrasekharan had the last word. He made a personal explanation under Rule 288 of Kerala Assembly Rules of Procedure. And this was not flattering to the CPM.

Chandrasekharan struck CPM where it hurt the most. The CPM considers the Sangh Parivar so politically dishonourable that it will seem as if its leaders would disband the party than admit to any kind understanding with these forces.

The CPI veteran's written statement in the floor of the House offered as clear a hint as any that the CPM had struck an unethical deal with the RSS-BJP forces. The CPI MLA was referring to the attack on him by RSS-BJP workers on May 16, 2016, the day he was declared the winner in Kasaragod's Kanhangad constituency, and how the Court later let the perpetrators off the hook for want of evidence.

It was widely known that CPM leaders who were with Chandrasekharan on the day of the attack had turned hostile in Court after the CPM entered into a mutually convenient deal with the Sangh Parivar.

Ditching Chandrasekharan, it was said, was quid pro quo for saving CPM leaders who had been accused of attempting to murder RSS-BJP workers in 2018.
CPM's Kuttiyadi MLA K P Kunhammed Kutty was eager to dispel this notion of a CPM-BJP secret deal. On February 2, while participating in a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, Kutty termed as "baseless" the charge that the statements made by the CPM witnesses in Court (Kasaragod Additional Sessions Court-II) were designed to save RSS-BJP workers. "All the witnesses, including those who were injured, had given similar statements before the Court," he said. "All the witnesses had stated that the convoy (Chandrasekharan's victory procession) was attacked by RSS-BJP workers but these individuals could not be identified by their names. This has now been misinterpreted for political gains," he said.

He even said it was absurd to claim that the CPM had got into a deal with the RSS and the BJP.

It were these claims of the CPM MLA that Chandrasekharan wanted to put on record as absurd. First of all it was wrong to claim that all witnesses had given similar statements as Chandrasekharan had identified the accused in the court.

Though he did not mention any party or the names of witnesses, Chandrasekharan said witnesses who had identified the accused recanted their statements during trial.

Two of the witnesses who did a U-turn are CPM district committee member and Nileshwaram area secretary T K Ravi and CPM State Committee member A K Narayanan.
"Four prosecution witnesses who had given statements to the police after the accused were identified in the later stages of the investigation turned hostile during the trial," Chandrasekharan said. This was also stated in the verdict of the Additional Sessions Court that acquitted all the 12 RSS-BJP workers accused in the case last January.

"The decision of these witnesses, who should have ideally identified our assaulters, to turn hostile, I understand, was a major setback for the case," the CPI leader said.

These being the facts, Chandrasekharan said the CPM's Kuttiyadi MLA had given a false version in the House. "He had said that all the witnesses had given similar statements and that the case faltered because no one could identify the accused," the CPI leader said. He termed Kutty's version "baseless".

He said that he himself had stated in the court that all those who were lined up as accused in the court were in the forefront of attacking us.

Chandrasekharan also told what prompted him to make a formal statement in the Assembly. "This is to bring to the notice of the House that the accused could go scot free only because those who had originally identified the culprits and said so in a statement before the police later took back their words in front of the court," Chandrasekharan said to loud triumphant cheers from UDF members who were agitating in the well of the House.

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