Kerala: CPI local leadership comes out in support of deputy speaker

KOTTAYAM: For the first time since the conflict between deputy speaker Chittayam Gopakumar of CPI and health minister Veena George of CPM began, the CPI Pathanamthitta district leadership has come out publicly in support of Gopakumar on Sunday.
CPI district secretary A P Jayan replied to CPM district secretary K P Udayabhanu, who had provoked Gopakumar with his statement to file a complaint with the LDF when he said that allegation raised by Gopakumar is strange and it is like a father saying that he was not invited to his daughter's marriage. Jayan reacted to Udayabhanu's statement on Sunday, saying that it was not right on the natives' part to conduct the girl's marriage, leaving her father as a mere spectator.
Gopakumar had alleged that he was invited for the 'Ente Keralam' mega show in Pathanamthitta only the night before the event. Since he had earlier committed to another function in Thiruvananthapuram, he was not in a position to attend the inaugural function. This sparked controversy. Though the CPI district and state leadership hoped that the controversy would soon die down, Udayabhanu's statement added fuel to the controversy. According to sources, Jayan was forced to react to Udayabhanu's statement publicly as CPI members in the district wanted him to do so.
The CPM-CPI rift had widened in Pathanamthitta after CPM leadership in the district failed to keep its word of taking action against those who brutally beat CPI leaders during a bank election in Kodumon in January this year. Both sides clashed with each other during the elections held on January 16. A video of two CPI activists getting thrashed had surfaced on social media. CPI had alleged that it was CPM sympathizers who beat up the workers.