The Kerala CPI(M) on Friday harshly criticized its senior leader Kadakampally Surendran, State Devaswom Minister (in charge of temple affairs), for offering worship at the famous Sri Krishna temple in Guruvayur, Thrissur district on the Sri Krishna Jayanthi Day, September 12.  However, it did not to take any disciplinary action against him.

A meeting of the party’s State committee observed that there was lack of caution on the part of the Minister in the matter. The party had had Devaswom ministers earlier also but they had never offered worship or performed rites at any temple as he did, it said. He should have followed the precedent set by his Marxist predecessors in the Devaswom department, the party opined.

The issue was reported at the State committee meeting on Friday by none other than State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan who said there was lack of caution on the part of Surendran during his visit to the Guruvayur temple. There was nothing wrong in his visit to the temple as Devaswom Minister but he should not have performed rites at the shrine, he said.

The same sentiment was expressed by other speakers at the State committee meeting as well. Surendran replied by admitting that there was lack of caution from his part. The State committee, which accepted Surendran’s explanation, instructed him to be careful not to repeat such mistakes while visiting temples in the future.

Also, the CPI(M) decided not to take any disciplinary action against Kadakampally, former Thiruvananthapuram district secretary of the party. The party, still sticking to the principle of materialism especially with regard to the conduct of senior functionaries, was forced to take up the row and put an end to it in the context of the ongoing meetings of its grassroots units.

A former CPI(M) theorist from Kochi said the party’s reluctance to take action against Surendran showed its compulsions in the state’s present political context. “Normally, such an error would not go unpunished in the CPI(M). But party wants to avoid further debates on it especially as its rivals – mainly the BJP – might use it as a weapon against it,” he said.

On his visit with family members to the temple on September 12 as Minister in charge of temple affairs, Surendran had offered worship at the temple and had made offerings like Pushpanjali to the deity. He had also made offering of money to the deity as part of the temple rites. Visuals of Surendran offering prayers at the temple had appeared in the media.

He had later said at a public meeting that he was immensely happy about his visit to the Guruvayur temple. The BJP, which welcomed the Minister’s act, had made it an occasion to lash out at the CPI(M) for its alleged hypocrisy. This also had forced the CPI(M) to put an end to the debate at the earliest.

Surendran had also claimed that some people intolerant to his achievements as Minister were behind the controversy over his temple visit. He said his family members had always been believers and he had never tried to correct them. Former CPI(M) Devaswom Minister G Sudhakaran had never offered worship at the any temple including in Guruvayur.

A CPI(M) plenum held at Palakkad in 2013 had resolved to ban party members from being office-bearers of religious and caste outfits and from visiting places of worship for offering worship. This step was taken as part of the efforts to eradicate all tendencies that were considered inappropriate for a Marxist-leninist organization.

Senior CPI(M) leader MV Govindan was the first to come out against Surendran over the matter. At a party State secretariat meeting on September 13, Govindan had said that Surendran’s act was inappropriate for a senior Marxist leader whose political ideology was founded on dialectical materialism.