Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, has urged the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership to remove P. Jayarajan from the post of party secretary of Kannur district after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged him with criminal conspiracy in the murder of Abdul Shukkoor of Ariyil, near Taliparamba, on February 20, 2012.

The party leadership should also ask the CPI(M) legislator, T.V. Rajesh, to resign from his Assembly seat, Mr. Chennithala told the media here on Wednesday.

Deploring the attitude of the CPI(M) in protecting the duo in a case of hacking to death of the 21-year-old, an activist of the Muslim Students Federation, Mr. Chennithala said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should break his silence on the issue. It appeared that his silence was just to protect the accused in the case, he said.

He said the party should also take a serious note of what veteran CPI(M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan had said, that the rule of law should take its own course. At the same time, the statement of CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan showed that the rule of law would take the path of the party.

Mr. Chennithala said the attitude of the CPI(M) showed that it nurtured criminals in the party that was having a detrimental effect on the democratic system. Nearly 27 political murders had taken place since the Left Democratic Front government came to power, he said.

He said the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) would undertake a campaign against the violent politics unleashed by the CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

It was also deplorable that the CPI(M) had raised flimsy allegations against the Kozhikode MP, M.K. Raghavan, when it could not take him on politically before the approaching Lok Sabha elections, Mr. Chennithala said.