Expelled Kerala CPI(M) leader seeks police protection ahead of book release

Kochi/Kannur, Jan 30 (IANS) V. Kunjikrishnan, a senior CPI(M) leader expelled from the party earlier this week, approached the Kerala High Court on Friday seeking police protection for his book release function.

Speaking to the media at his home in Payyannur, he clarified that he has approached the High Court seeking police protection only for the book release function on Wednesday.

“I wish to clarify that the protection that I have sought is just for the book release function that will take place on Wednesday. Since it’s a function, I did not want it to get disturbed. I approached the Court because it would be a more concrete direction,” said Kunjikrishnan.

The petition comes days ahead of the scheduled release of his book on Wednesday, which contains sharp allegations against the CPI(M) leadership and what he describes as the party’s ideological degeneration.

Kunjikrishnan was expelled on Monday from the CPI(M)’s primary membership after he publicly reiterated allegations of irregularities linked to the Dhanaraj Martyrs’ Fund, triggering a major controversy within the party’s Kannur district unit.

Announcing the decision, CPI(M) Kannur District Secretary K.K. Ragesh accused him of betraying the party and acting as a “weapon in the hands of party enemies”, particularly by giving interviews to a private television channel ahead of elections.

The party maintained that the allegations raised by Kunjikrishnan had been examined and settled internally as early as April 2022 and described his actions as motivated by personal animosity towards Payyannur MLA and district secretariat member T.I. Madhusoodanan.

Ragesh said an internal inquiry had found the charges to be baseless and claimed that Madhusoodanan was not involved in handling the funds concerned.

While acknowledging lapses such as typographical errors and missing receipt books, the party asserted that there was no financial loss and that disciplinary action had already been taken.

In sharp contrast, Kunjikrishnan’s book, titled 'Nethruthvathe Anikal Thiruthanam (The Cadre Must Correct the Leadership)', launches a scathing critique of the CPI(M)’s state leadership.

The book alleges that party leaders have become beneficiaries of crony capitalism, that organisational principles are misused to shield those accused of serious wrongdoing, and that the CPI(M) has been reduced to a conventional electoral party stripped of its communist character.

The book devotes significant attention to Payyannur, alleging that factionalism began after Madhusoodanan became area secretary in 2007, accusing him of practising a “bourgeois political style” that thrives on creating dependency and suppressing dissent.

Financial irregularities, including alleged misuse of martyrs’ fund collections, are detailed with accounts and figures, alongside criticism of the leadership’s failure to act.

Soon after his expulsion, Kunjikrishnan, 74, said there was “nothing new” in the party’s explanation and reiterated that he went public only after repeated internal appeals failed.

He has ruled out joining any other political party.

With the book release imminent and political tempers running high, the High Court plea for protection adds a new dimension to a controversy that has exposed deep fault lines within the CPI(M) in Kannur.

The party is also feeling the heat as the upcoming assembly polls are round the corner, and this is happening at a time when the party is finding it hard to defend the December 2025 local body poll debacle it suffered.

--IANS