The CPM on Tuesday decided to "publicly rebuke" CPM state committee member N N Krishnadas for adopting a political stand that was at variance with the party during the Palakkad bypoll.

While the CPM leadership wanted to project a trolley bag in Congress candidate Rahul Mamkoottathil's possession as a symbol of Congress corruption, Krishnadas had warned against it. Krishnadas was dismissive of the party's stand saying that it should instead take up issues that have a bearing on the daily lives of the people.

At the CPM State Committee meeting on Tuesday, January 7, Krishnadas was chastised. "Election work has to be carried out in the most cohesive fashion. By adopting a different stand, Krishnadas sought to create the impression that there was division within the party," CPM state secretary M V Govindan told reporters while announcing the disciplinary action on Tuesday.

'Public rebuke' is the second mildest form of disciplinary action in the CPM, and comes after 'internal rebuke'. The higher forms of disciplinary actions in the CPM are: 'censure', 'public censure', 'suspension', and then 'dismissal'.

While speaking at a memorial meeting for former MLA M Narayanan in the first week of November, Krishnadas, besides asking the party to drop the issue and focus exclusively on people's issues, warned that the 'trolley bag controversy' could be a Congress ploy to distract the party.

Govindan had then overruled Krishnadas. He argued that the incident, involving a police raid at a Palakkad hotel based on suspicions of black money, should be part of the election campaign. The CPM state secretary was convinced that the controversy would hurt the Congress candidate.

Govindan further claimed that the 'trolley bag' would add another dark layer to the alleged fake ID card Youth Congress election controversy, which he argued had already dented Mamkootathil’s public image. As it turned out, Mamkootathil won with a record margin of 18,840 votes.