CPI expels Nattika MLA Mukundan for ‘anti-party activities’

The Communist Party of India has expelled C. C. Mukundan, MLA from Nattika and a member of the party’s Nattika mandalam committee, from its primary membership citing serious anti-party activities.

In a statement here on Tuesday, the CPI Nattika mandalam committee said Mr. Mukundan had repeatedly violated party discipline during his five-year tenure as MLA representing the party in the Nattika Assembly constituency. The party said it had taken disciplinary action against him several times earlier and attempted to correct his conduct.

As part of earlier disciplinary steps, Mr. Mukundan had been removed from the district executive during the last party conference period and reassigned as a member of the Nattika mandalam committee.

According to the statement, the latest action followed Mr. Mukundan’s public allegations against the party after the CPI State executive decided on its candidate for the upcoming Assembly election in Nattika. The party said Mr. Mukundan raised “serious and baseless accusations” in public and openly declared that he would contest the election as a UDF-supported Independent after initiating contact with leaders of the Congress.

The party termed his actions a grave violation of discipline expected from both a party member and a sitting MLA and said the expulsion was carried out in accordance with the party constitution with the approval of the CPI Thrissur district council.

The party maintained that its decision not to renominate Mr. Mukundan was taken after detailed assessments by local party committees and the district leadership. Instead, the CPI has decided to field former MLA Geetha Gopi as its candidate in the constituency.

Earlier, Mr. Mukundan had announced that he would contest the coming Assembly election from Nattika as an Independent with support from the United Democratic Front. He also said he had spoken over the phone with senior Congress leaders K. C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala. Mr. Mukundan claimed he had resigned from the CPI and added that he was prepared to step down as MLA if necessary.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) Thrissur district secretary K. V. Abdul Khader described Mr. Mukundan’s stand as one marked by “political bankruptcy”, alleging that the MLA had forgotten that it was the CPI and the Left Democratic Front that made him both a candidate and an MLA. He said Mr. Mukundan, by attacking his own party and the front, had effectively turned into a pawn in the hands of political opponents.