Alappuzha: Continuing his tirade against the Left Democratic Front, veteran CPM leader G Sudhakaran on Sunday criticised the functioning of various government systems in the state, including local bodies.

Addressing a meeting of the Kerala School Teachers Association – a CPM-backed organisation – here, Sudhakaran stated it had become impossible for the people to get their things done “without paying bribes”. He also accused those holding administrative powers, including some LDF panchayat presidents, of possessing a feudal mindset and mistreating the public.

“There seems to be a feudal mindset among local body members, particularly a few LDF panchayat presidents, that they run the show and everybody else is beneath them,” he said. Such people, according to him, will sit on the request for a pension even if there is an application. “These 'leaders' had to be publicly called out and shamed last Onam before they approved the pension applications,” said Sudhakaran.

The speech is the latest in a series of remarks the veteran communist leader has made against the LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. In a recent TV interview, he criticised the party's tendency to engage in 'personality cults' as well as region-based lobbies in a veiled reference to the influential party leaders from Kannur.

His recent speech criticising M T Vasudevan Nair amid a decision by the CPM leadership to ignore the author’s comment against personality cults had created a flutter within the party.

Meanwhile, the presence of Sudhakaran in party events after a brief lull appears to have upset his rival faction within the CPM. Having been omitted from the CPM state committee, Sudhakaran had abstained from mainstream politics for a brief period.