Kannur: The CPM has expelled T Purushothaman, a Marxist ideologue seen as the backroom strategist for whistleblower V Kunhikrishnan’s election campaign in Payyannur. Purushothaman was a member of the AKG Bhavan branch in Payyannur town under the Payyannur Area Committee.

Hours after the assembly election ended on April 9, suspected CPM workers set fire to Purushothaman’s car parked outside his house at Mahadeva Nagar in Payyannur. Five DYFI activists, including Payyannur West area president Sudheesh, were arrested on April 11 and 12 in connection with the arson. When they were being taken to court, CPM workers gathered at the police station and raised slogans in their support.

On April 18, the CPM district committee’s internal inquiry 'found' that Purushothaman had engaged in a 'planned conspiracy against the party and assisted anti-party forces', according to a statement by district secretary K K Ragesh. On Sunday, district committee member Sarin Sasi presented the report before the AKG Bhavan branch committee, which then revoked Purushothaman's primary membership. CPM's Payyannur area committee member M Raghavan was also present.

Purushothaman has maintained that he was targeted for attending Kunhikrishnan’s book release at Payyannur Gandhi Park on February 4. When contacted, Purushothaman said he was informed about the 6 pm meeting only an hour in advance and had conveyed his inability to attend to the branch secretary. “But they decided there was no need to hear me, as the decision had already been made by the higher committees. I don’t believe they have any evidence to support the charges of conspiracy or anti-party activities against me. I have no reason to secretly back Kunhikrishnan. If they were truly interested in justice, they should have heard me out,” he said. 

However, the party viewed him as a key force behind Kunhikrishnan’s campaign against its influential MLA and Kannur district secretariat member T I Madhusoodanan.

Kunhikrishnan, a former CPM district committee member, had accused Madhusoodanan of misappropriating funds raised for the family of slain party worker C V Dhanraj, as well as funds meant for the Payyannur area committee office in 2016 and his own election in 2021. His book, 'Nethruthwathe Anikal Thiruthanam' ('The Rank Should Correct the Leadership'), sought to expose what he described as financial fraud within the party.

Purushothaman and Madhusoodanan go back decades. Both rose through the party ranks around the same time, with Purushothaman often seen as having an edge for his ideological clarity, while Madhusoodanan focused on building a network through cooperative societies in Payyannur. According to those close to Purushothaman, his trajectory shifted sharply when the party handed him over to the police for a murder case. He went on to serve eight years in prison.

By the time he returned, Madhusoodanan had consolidated his position in the party, leaving little space for Purushothaman.

He later formed an organisation for his political work and was expelled for anti-party activities. After K R Gowri’s split from the CPM in 1994, he joined her Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithi (JSS) before joining the CPI. Despite this, he repeatedly sought a return to the CPM, but the Payyannur North and South branches did not accommodate him. He was eventually taken into the AKG Bhavan branch in the town.

In 2021, when Kunhikrishnan became Payyannur area secretary and began raising allegations of financial misappropriation against Madhusoodanan within the party, Purushothaman found in him a new ally.