The deaths of former Wayanad District Congress Committee treasurer N M Vijayan and his son Jijesh have come in handy for the CPM to deflect attention from the conviction of some of its leaders in the twin Periya murders. On Tuesday, CPM state secretary M V Govindan said the death of Vijayan was the latest in a series of suicides by local Congress leaders across Kerala and called for the resignation of I C Balakrishnan as Sulthan Bathery MLA.

On January 3, the CBI Special Court had sentenced 10 CPM workers to double life imprisonment for the murder and conspiracy in the killings of Youth Congress workers Kripesh (21) and Sarathlal P K (24) nearly six years ago. The court also handed five-year prison terms to former Udma and CPM's Kasaragod District Secretariat member MLA K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad Block Panchayat president and CPM District Committee member K Manikandan, and two other CPM leaders for forcibly taking away second accused Saji C George, from police custody.

The Wayanad suicides have also offered the CPM yet another opportunity to paint itself as the victim of the "ruthless right-wing media" that is "blinded by its hatred for communists".

"It is clear as daylight that the Congress party is behind the suicides. It is also clear that Vijayan was forced into this by I C Balakrishnan. Vijayan had to surrender his land as security and sign cheques in his name to cover up for the deeds of Congress leaders like I C Balakrishnan. The party and its leaders abandoned him when his debts magnified, and it was this that pushed him to suicide," the CPM state secretary told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.

"Yet, the media is reluctant to speak about a tragedy caused by the corruption of Congress leaders," he said. The CPM state secretary said that Vijayan and his son Jijesh died in Kozhikode Medical College on December 28, the day the Periya murder verdict was delivered. "While the Periya murder verdict was given outsize importance in all mainstream newspapers and channels, the deaths of Vijayan and his son were ignored," Govindan said.

MLA Balakrishnan's involvement was revealed in a suicide note that has now been made public by Vijayan's elder son, Vijesh. "Now that the letter is out, I C Balakrishnan should resign as MLA," Govindan said. He also wanted the Congress leadership to respond to the tragedy.

Further, Govindan said that Congress leaders forced to commit suicides by the insensitive attitude of the party had become the norm. He spoke of the suicide of Congress leader P T Paul after allegations of corruption related to Angamaly Urban Cooperative Bank surfaced; his body was found in a hotel in Angamaly.

Govindan also referred to the deaths of former Wayanad DCC secretary P V John in 2015 (he committed suicide after coming fourth in the local body polls) and former DCC general secretary V Pratapachandran in 2022 (his children had complained of stress induced by party leaders).

"None of these are known to the public, but the media makes the death of Naveen Babu a big issue because it can be used to tarnish the CPM," Govindan said.