A war has erupted in Kerala’s groupism-ridden Congress party and the feud-stricken ruling UDF it leads over the use of smart phones in prison by the Marxists accused in the case pertaining to the murder of rebel Marxist leader TP Chandrasekharan. The CPI(M) men under judicial remand had also been posting and sharing messages and photos on Facebook sitting in the prison.
Holding Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan solely responsible for the serious violation of prison rules by the murder-accused Marxists, a section of Congress leaders even charged him with striking a deal with the Marxist leadership to sabotage the Chandrasekharan murder case and demanded his immediate resignation as Minister.
The ‘I’ group of the Congress, led by State party president Ramesh Chennithala, is viewing the development at the Kozhikode district prison as an opportunity for stepping up its attack against the ‘A’ group headed by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to which Home Minister Thiruvanchoor belongs. Congress MP K Sudhakaran, a top leader of the ‘I’ group, led the attack against Thiruvanchoor by saying, “Thiruvanchoor should resign on his own. If that does not happen, the Chief Minister or the party leadership should ask him to resign. The Home Minister is not there to implement his personal agenda,” Sudhakaran said in Kannur on Tuesday.
Alleging that there were efforts to ensure that the probe into the conspiracy behind the Chandrasekharan murder did not extend to the top CPI(M) leadership, Sudhakaran said that Thiruvanchoor was refusing to initiate a CBI probe into the murder because of a secret understanding with the Marxists.
Blasting Thiruvanchoor’s objections to the criticisms against him over the use of smart phones and Facebook by the murder-accused Marxists, former State Congress chief and ‘I” group leader K Muraleedharan MlA said there was no need of second thoughts to say that there was failure on the part of the Home Department in the issue of violation of prison rules by the detainees.
Incidents of burning of effigies of Thiruvanchoor by a section of pro-Congress students outfits KSU was reported from Thrissur and Kannur even as Ramesh Chennithala opined that the serious violation of rules by detainees in the prison was a cause anxiety and called for steps to end that anxiety. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan responded to the attacks against him furiously saying, “I have strong vocabulary too and I know how to use even sharp words than Sudhakaran. But my culture does not allow me to use such terms.” Thiruvanchoor told reporters in Kozhikode that he would resign if those who had made him Minister asked him to do so.
CM Chandy responded in a guarded manner to the demands from within the party for sacking Thiruvanchoor. “Everybody knows that there are certain established procedures in the Congress for changing Ministers.” He said action would be taken in the matter of rules violation in the prison after the Home Department concluded its investigations.
Meanwhile, the Home Minister visited the district prison in Kozhikode where six of the first seven accused in the Chandrasekharan murder case had used smart phones and accessed Facebook from within the jail. He said all necessary measures would be adopted to ensure that such violations of prison rules did not occur.