The fourth plenum of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held at Palakkad in 2013 advised party workers to set an example for society by leading a simple life in accordance with high standards of communist values.
The party workers, who believed the party leadership’s move to purge the party of wrongdoings, were shocked on Wednesday when media broke a news that the Dubai police had initiated the process to seek the help of Interpol in arresting Benoy Balakrishnan, son of Kerala party secretary and politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Representational image. Reuters
Media reports said Dubai public prosecutor had initiated the proceedings on a complaint received from a tourism company that Benoy had absconded after cheating them of 7 million dirhams, equivalent to Rs 13 crore. The company, Tourism LLC, Dubai, said in their complaint that Benoy had taken the money on two counts.
He took Rs 55.51 lakh for buying an Audi car and Rs 7.7 crore for starting businesses in India, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Nepal with a promise to return the money by June 2016. The claim they made for Rs 13 crore now includes interest and court expenses.
Benoy was absconding since July, according to the complaint lodged by Jaas Tourism. The company had first approached the CPM politburo for its help to resolve the issue amicably. They moved the authorities for getting Benoy extradited to Dubai after the party failed to intervene in the issue.
Benoy has denied the allegation that he owed Rs 13 crore to the company. He told Manorma News channel that the issue was settled in 2014 and added that he will soon submit documents regarding the settlement to the Dubai court.
Senior CPM leaders have sought to defend the party saying Benoy was not a member. Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that there was no ground for the party to intervene in the issue since it had nothing to do with it. Yechury has also ruled out a party investigation into the allegation.
State Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor Vaikkom Viswam has also taken a similar stand. He said that the party cannot be held responsible for any wrongdoing by family members of its leaders. Kodiyeri evaded the issue saying his son will explain his position.
But this was not the stand the CPM took in the case of Jay Shah, son of BJP president Amit Shah when allegations of financial misdeeds were raised against him. The party had tried to implicate not only Amit Shah but also Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when The Wire reported on Jay Shah's business.
The party had alleged that Jay had flourished after the BJP-led government came to power at the Centre in 2014 and demanded an answer from his father and the prime minister. The Communist Party of India (CPI) had even demanded a probe by a special investigation team into the issue.
The CPI, the second largest constituent of the LDF in the state, has been silent on the media reports about the allegations against the CPM secretary’s son. However, Opposition parties are not ready to spare the party and the government. "Kodiyeri does not hail from a business family. He has been in politics since his school days. When he has no other known sources of income, how can his son raise such a huge sum to start a business? The Dubai company may have given the money considering the power his son wields in the state," said BJP spokesperson MS Kumar.
He believes that the company may have lent money to Benoy for some favour they expected from the LDF government, which is led by the CPM. He suspects misuse of power behind the deal. Kumar has demanded an investigation to find out the truth.
The Opposition parties had linked the appointment of Benoy’s younger brother Bineesh Kodiyeri as the vice-president of the India division of the Dubai-headquartered RP Group to the government decision to hand over the archaeologically significant Kovalam Palace to the group’s hotel chain.
The group, which set up a hotel at Kollam in violation of coastal zone regulations, had also accommodated Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena as the CEO of an IT firm it set up at Techonopark, Thiruvananthapuram.
Bineesh, who has been trying to build a career as a film actor, is also mired in several other controversies. His name had figured in the recent case related to the abduction of an actress, as well as the murder of businessman Paul Muthoot. Bineesh has also business deals in the United Arab Emirates, where over 38 percent of the emigrants from the state live.
The UDF government in 2013 had alleged that Bineesh had obtained a passport illegally when Kodiyeri was serving as home minister of the state between 2006 and 2011.
Former BJP state president V Muraleedharan said that top leaders of several CPM leaders and their family members had a strong nexus with business tycoons in the Middle East and other parts of the world. He said that he had demanded a vigilance probe into the wealth of the senior party leaders.
"The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau rejected the application saying there was no evidence to prove his allegation. The anti-graft body had reached the conclusion without even conducting a preliminary investigation into his complaint," Muraleedharan said.
He said that the new revelation about the business deals with the CPM secretary's son had vindicated his allegations. He said that the CPM could not distance from the allegation saying that the accused was not a party member. Muraleedharan said Bineesh and several other family members of the leaders were beneficiaries of power.
His colleague and BJP general secretary K Surendran said Kodiyeri's frequent visits to Dubai were also mysterious. He demanded a comprehensive investigation into the business deals of CPM leaders and their family members.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has termed the allegations as "serious" and demanded an explanation from the chief minister. He also demanded an investigation into the allegations.
Political observers feel the case will put the CPM on the defensive particularly at a time when the party is facing a rift over its political line. The issue may also affect the chances of Kodiyeri, a strong supporter of the new line propounded by the former general secretary, Prakash Karat, for a second term as the state secretary.
"The CPM leaders' defence that the party cannot be held responsible for the wrongdoings of the kin of the leaders may be technically correct they cannot run away from their moral responsibility. The rectification document adopted by the Palakkad plenum is applicable to both the party workers and their family members," said Left-oriented political analyst NM Pearson.
The document had specifically asked party workers and their family members not to maintain any links with business houses. The party may have to do a lot of explaining in the ongoing district conferences and coming state conference of the party.
The cadres have reposed faith in the leadership because they think that the party will stand for the poor. But the Bineesh case shows that they are interested in accumulating wealth. This may haunt the party for a long time unless the party leadership implement the rectification document in its true spirit.
Published Date: Jan 25, 2018 10:15 AM | Updated Date: Jan 25, 2018 10:15 AM