The Congress and the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday attempted, separately, to portray the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] as the fountainhead of political violence in the State.
The Congress leadership sought to undercut the CPI(M)’s State-wide campaign against political murders by blaming the murder of two Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers at Venjaramoodu on August 30 on the bitter factional rivalry between DYFI State secretary A.A. Rahim and D.K. Murali, MLA, within the district CPI(M).
Former KPCC president M.M. Hassan, DCC president Neyyatinkara Sanal and K.S. Sabarinathan, MLA, alleged that two DYFI activists were also among the assailants. Other suspects in the double murder were former DYFI workers who had left the organisation out of spite. They had publicly held the victims responsible for their ouster, they said.
The Congress demanded a CBI inquiry and said it did not trust the local law enforcement given the "chequered past" of the District Police Chief. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had defended the police and said the probe was on the right track.
The CPI(M) had denied the allegations. It said the police had found that Youth Congress leader G. Leena had staged an attack on her own house with the help of her son to divert public attention from the double murder. The Congress was attempting to hide its embarrassment by levelling false charges against the CPI(M).
BJP charge
BJP State president K. Surendran said the CPI(M) seemed poised to launch a major campaign of violence in north Kerala. He told reporters that several BJP workers in Kathiroor had woken up to find that anonymous persons had marked their houses at night with red fluorescent stickers.
A few days after, an accidental explosion revealed the existence of a country-bomb making shed in the politically sensitive locality. Two CPM activists, including a party member who was acquitted in the T. P. Chandrasekharan murder case, were injured in the blast.
