Kannur: CPM Kannur district committee has expelled senior leader V Kunhikrishnan from primary membership, days after he accused MLA TI Madhusoodanan of swindling the party’s Dhanaraj martyr's fund. The decision was taken at a district secretariat meeting held a day earlier.

Addressing the media here, district secretary KK Ragesh said that Kunhikrishnan had “degraded himself into a weapon of anti-communist forces” at a time when Assembly elections are around the corner. Ragesh accused Kunhikrishnan of pursuing a personal agenda against the party and of levelling false allegations against MLA TI Madhusoodanan to wreak personal vengeance.

He also alleged that Kunhikrishnan, former secretary of Payyannur area committee and Kannur district committee cheated the party. 

“By choosing to go public with the allegations, he stabbed the party in the back. He is not a true communist. He has betrayed the party and its members,” Ragesh said.

Speaking about the fund diversion controversy, the district leadership said the allegations were investigated by an internal committee in 2022, and the matter was settled within the party.

“Matrys’ fund was collected for meeting expenses of the legal formalities as well as providing financial aid to the dependents. Not a single penny was illegally spent from this fund. The district leadership is confident about it,” he said. 

“No party funds were siphoned off so far. The audit was conducted properly, and no misappropriation was found. The party doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone,” the CPM district secretary added.

He added that the party had initiated disciplinary action against Kunhikrishnan for making false allegations against Madhusoodanan and for defaming the party. Ragesh criticised him for giving interviews to a television news channel and repeating the allegations with the intention of damaging the party ahead of the polls.

He added that he had requested Kunhikrishnan to refrain from publishing his book containing allegations against the party, but the latter did not heed the request.

Kunhikrishnan, who has been associated with the party for around five decades, went public with allegations of fund misappropriation against the Payyannur MLA, putting the leadership on the defensive as the CPM is aiming for a third consecutive term in Kerala. When he first raised the allegations within the party’s internal forums, he was removed as CPM’s Payyannur Area Secretary. He was later inducted into the party’s district committee after MV Govindan took over as state secretary. Within the party, the whisper was that Kunhikrishnan had been given a long rope because he was believed to possess solid evidence to back his allegations against Madhusoodanan.