Unlike Chief Minister Pinaryi Vijayan who was absolutely sure of his political secretary's integrity, CPM state secretary M V Govindan gave out conflicting signals about the party's stand on P Sasi after the CPM State Secretariat meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
On September 21, the Chief Minister dismissed the charges against Sasi with "the contempt it deserves" and categorically ruled out any party probe into Sasi's conduct. However, on Wednesday (September 25), Govindan looked to be in two minds. He hinted that the party had not thrown out Anvar's complaint but simultaneously expressed his trust in Sasi.
At this point, therefore, it is not clear whether the CPM is conducting an internal enquiry or has junked Anvar's complaints against Sasi.
To begin with, Govindan gave the impression that an investigation is on. He said both the government and the party were conducting a probe on the issues raised by Anvar. "Now that the government and the party are investigating the charges, Anvar should immediately put a stop to his repeated public utterances that have allowed the right-wing forces and their supportive media to create some noise against the party and the government," Govindan told reporters. He was essentially saying that the party had kept its promise and now it was Anvar's turn.
However, moments later, Govindan said that prima facie, it could not be said that Sasi had done anything that Anvar had alleged. Anvar had levelled grave charges against Sasi. Mainly, he said Sasi was protecting corrupt police officers and misleading the CM. Then, he said that Sasi, with the assistance of ADGP M R Ajithkumar, was tapping the phones of even LDF ministers. Last week, after the Chief Minister publicly rebuked him, Anvar scaled up his attack and said that Sasi was also pocketing the spoils of gold smuggling.
"We have worked with Sasi for quite a long time to know that Sasi would not commit any of these mistakes," Govindan said. This could mean two things. One, the party is not interested in probing Sasi's affairs. Two, this can also be seen as a clear case of the party boss pre-judging an internal probe, if there is one.
Still, Govindan was not as dismissive of Anvar as the CM. The state secretary dropped further hints that the party could be looking into Sasi's actions. "The party would seriously look into any serious charges," he said. And then, with an ideologue's turn of phrase, said: "Just because certain charges are levelled with seriousness does not make these charges serious."
But are Anvar's charges against Sasi serious? "I will not tell you," Govindan said. But this still was in stark contrast to the Chief Minister's stand that Anvar's charges deserved nothing but contempt.