CPM State Secretariat gives PV Anvar’s rebellion a hasty burial

It looks like the revolution that Nilambur MLA P V Anvar had spoken about after meeting CPM state secretary M V Govindan a day ago has been quite roughly laid to rest at the CPM State Secretariat on Friday.

The CPM has thrown itself headlong into the support of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, forming what looks like an impenetrable cordon around him. At the State Secretariat meeting, the CPM decided to junk Anvar's charges.

Three big decisions taken at the CPM State Secretariat will have the effect of crushing Anvar's incipient rebellion.

One, the party will not conduct an internal inquiry into the charges levelled by Anvar.

"The Secretariat examined Anvar's complaint and found that it related to the failure of officers at the governance and administrative levels. So the party is of the opinion that a government investigation has to be conducted. And for this, the government has constituted an investigation team capable of doing this job," Govindan told reporters after the State Secretariat.

Two, the party will not ask the government to remove ADGP M R Ajithkumar from his post during the period of investigation. "Unlike what the media has said, it is not a dysfunctional team that the government has put in place. It is headed by the State Police Chief. There is no one above him in Kerala police," Govindan said.

When asked about other officers in the team like G Sparjan Kumar (IG South Zone), and Thomson Jose (DIG Thrissur range), who report directly to the ADGP, Govindan gave a reply that did not mean anything. "They are there only to help the DGP," he said.

And later, when reporters pressed him on the unfairness of retaining the ADGP in his post during the probe, Govindan offered a reply that was both laughable and ethically unsustainable. "It is not the ADGP who is doing the probe. That job is done by the team constituted by the government," he said.

Quick came the counter. "Then why did the CPM gloat about removing filmmaker Ranjith from the post of Chalachithra Academy chairman when allegations were levelled against him?" A sudden burst of incoherent anger was Govindan's response.

Third, the party will not initiate any action against the Chief Minister's political secretary, P Sasi. The general assumption was that Sasi was Anvar’s prime target.

"There is nothing about Sasi in the petition Anvar had given the party," Govindan said. "Since there is nothing specific, there is no need for the party to examine anything," he said.

When told that Anvar, during his press conferences, had described Sasi as a failure as political secretary, Govindan shot back: "How can action be taken on a sweeping statement like that? Where are the details?"

Ridicule for Anvar
There was also contempt for Anvar in Govindan's voice. "Just imagine the pathetic state to which the opposition has fallen for them to launch an agitation on the basis of Anvar's words," Govindan said.

Like LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan, Govindan too felt that Anvar should not have raised issues in the manner he had. "But then he is not a party member and we cannot instruct him on organisational matters,"Govindan said, in a tone used for individuals who does not really matter.

Why Hosabale, why not Mohan Bhagwat
Govindan termed as "nonsense and much more" Opposition Leader V D Satheesan's charge that the ADGP was used by the CM to strike a deal with the RSS.

"If at all we wanted to strike a deal with the RSS, why meet an assistant (RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale). We would have talked directly with Mohan Bhagwat himself," he said. Govindan said the CPM could never have any links with an outfit like the RSS that was forever plotting to destroy the CPM.

During the press meeting, Govindan sounded furious about the alleged CPM-RSS deal. They way he vehemently kept insisting that the CPM would never strike a deal with the RSS, there seemed to be a hint that he wanted to differentiate between the party and certain individuals; Satheesan's original charge was that it was the CM who forged the deal. However, Govindan later said that it was "nonsense" to say that the CM had attempted to strike a deal with the RSS.