CPM leader sacked for refusing to quit MC post

CPI(M) leader and DYFI’s former Kerala state joint secretary M R Murali was sacked from the primary membership of the party...

CPI(M) leader and DYFI’s former Kerala state joint secretary M R Murali was sacked from the primary membership of the party, after he defied a party directive to quit the vice-chairmanship of the municipal council at Shornur in Palakkad district.

Murali’s challenge and the party’s hasty action against him is likely to open a fresh round of factional feuding in the CPI(M)’s Kerala unit, which projected an image of unity after the state conference held in Kottayam this year. This is the first disciplinary action against a party leader after the Kottayam conclave.

The action taken against Murali, a leader of the faction led by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, has the endorsement of state secretary and Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan, according to sources.

Murali had also served as a member of the CPI(M) Palakkad district committee. Several V S faction leaders in Palakkad, including N N Krishnandas and A Ajayakumar, both MPs, had faced party disciplinary action. Murali has been the target of the rival faction for some time. He was asked to vacate the vice-chairmanship of the municipal council after he participated in an agitation, which the party did not endorse.