Kasaragod: The Congress's Kasaragod district unit has asked its three leaders and two grassroots workers, illegally appointed as trustees of Mallikarjuna Temple, allegedly in connivance with the CPM, to step down from the posts or face disciplinary actions.

The party served the ultimatum to United Democratic Front (UDF) Kasaragod District Secretary Adv A Govindan Nair, a former executive member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC); Mahila Congress district secretary Usha S, who is the wife of District Congress Committee (DCC) executive committee member Arjunan Thayalangadi; former Kasaragod Mandalam president Umesha K of Anangoor; and Congress workers Manoj AC of Vidyanagar and Ramprasad of Kasaragod. Adv Govindan Nair, the most senior leader among the five, is the chairman of the board of trustees of the temple, managed by the LDF government-controlled Malabar Devaswom Board.

Confirming the action, DCC president P K Faisal told Onmanorama that the five leaders did not do the right thing by accepting the posts. "We got several complaints from party workers and leaders asking why no action was taken against them," he said. The buzz in the Congress is that the CPM gave up the positions for the Congress leaders as a quid pro quo to help it defeat Rajmohan Unnithan in the Lok Sabha election. The CPM dismissed the allegations, saying its sympathisers did not apply for the trustee posts because they missed the notification calling for applications.

The Malabar Devaswom Board got nine applications, five from the Congress camp and four from the BJP camp. After the interview, the Malabar Devaswom Board commissioner appointed the five Congress leaders as trustees of Mallikarjuna Temple on March 5.

Non-hereditary trustee positions in temples managed by devaswom boards are often given to sympathisers of parties running the government of the day. The ordinance of the Malabar Devaswom Board, headed by CPM leader M R Murali, explicitly prohibits the appointment of political leaders as non-hereditary trustees in its temples.

The High Court of Kerala in February 2023 also ruled that a person actively involved in politics, whether or not holding an official post, is not eligible to be appointed as a non-hereditary trustee in temples under the Malabar Devaswom Board.

Yet, all five trustee positions were given to Congress leaders, prompting the DYFI, the youth wing of the CPM, to register its protest, and leading Congress workers to suspect some hidden agendas.

In the notices sent to the five leaders, the Congress has asked them to step down from the board of trustees and inform the party in writing, immediately. If they do not comply, the DCC will write to the KPCC recommending action against them, said the notices.

A section of workers in the Congress said that the action against Adv Govindan Nair and the rest was part of the Kasaragod unit -- led by de facto leader Unnithan -- to purge the party of defectors.

On June 22, the party expelled four leaders, including KPCC secretary Balakrishnan Periya, for attending the wedding reception of the son of an accused in the Periya double murder case. "The action against Adv Govindan Nair was waiting to happen as Unnithan suspects he was behind the witchcraft done at the party's election office and his residence ahead of the election," a party leader said.

Adv Govindan had laughed off the allegation saying he belonged to Nehru's Congress where there was no space for such superstitions.

The leaders from Periya also blamed Unithan for the disciplinary action and appealed to the high command against the expulsion.