The Kerala CPI(M) on Thursday created an impression that the leadership’s ego mattered more than political strategies for it by electing P Mohanan, who was a key accused in the sensational case pertaining to the brutal murder of Marxist rebel TP Chandrasekharan in May, 2012 but was acquitted a year ago, as its district secretary in Kozhikode.
Mohanan was elected as district secretary reportedly at the insistence of the neoliberalist official leadership of the Kerala CPI(M) headed by State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan despite the concerns expressed by several local-level leaders that his election might cause a setback to the efforts to regain its credibility and popularity which had suffered a huge setback following the murder.
leaders of the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), founded by Chandrasekharan in 2008 after leaving the CPI(M), termed Mohanan’s election as district CPI(M) chief as a gift to him from the leadership for the murder of the rebel leader. They said Mohanan’s acquittal in the case was only technical and that an appeal against it was pending before the High Court.
Even CPI(M) insiders admit that Mohanan’s elevation as district chief may adversely affect the plans to pacify the cadres who suspected that the party had planned the murder and got it executed. It is yet to be seen whether the party can afford such a situation especially when it has to face two major elections in less than one-and-a-half years, they say.
Till the morning of Thursday, the last day of the party’s Kozhikode district conference, the name of Mohanan, who was a district secretariat member, was not even being considered for the post, according to sources. However, when the final moment came, the name was proposed and the election was carried out as though the proposal was not even to be discussed, they said.
Observers point out that though Mohanan had been acquitted formally in the case, a large number of people still believe that further investigations are needed to establish the innocence of leaders like him in the murder case. “It seems that the CPI(M) is driven more by its leadership’s ego than by Marxist political strategies,” said a Kozhikode-based senior journalist.
Mohanan, husband of Marxist legislator KK lathika, was 14th accused in the Chandrasekharan murder case and had remained in judicial custody for over 18 months. He was acquitted along with 23 others by a court in Kozhikode on January 22 last year while 12 other accused, all CPI(M) activists, leaders or sympathizers, were convicted.
“The mentality behind the decision to make Mohanan the district party chief is that the party does not care what its critics think of it. This means that the party thinks that those who are not prepared to accept the claim of its and Mohanan’s innocence need not support it. It is indeed a matter of ego and has nothing to do with practical politics,” the journalist said.
According to observers, the election of Mohanan as district secretary is part of a CPI(M) bid to emphasize its argument that the party and leaders like him have nothing to do with the murder of Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam, Kozhikode. However, the party’s own report presented to the conference had admitted that the murder had created a crisis for it in the district.
Even local-level Marxist leaders in Kozhikode admit that they are doubtful of Mohanan’s ability to win wider support for the party and the lDF it is leading just when it has to face the local bodies elections next September and the Assembly polls in April, 2016. They also fear that the election of Mohanan itself may become a discussion point during the elections.
KK Rama, RMP leader and Chandrasekharan’s widow, said, “By making a murder case-accused, though he has been acquitted on technical grounds, the CPI(M) is challenging the people, especially the communists in the whole State. This position is a gift from Pinarayi for Mohanan for his murder-related operations.”