The alleged meeting of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M R Ajith Kumar with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in Thrissur in May last year has put the CPI-M in Kerala in a tight spot.
The CPI-M is embroiled in a fresh following the allegation as it links the Left party with rightwing RSS/BJP.
Coming as it does close on the heels of CPI-M’s action against senior party leader E P Jayarajan for meeting with BJP leader Prakash Javadekar, the controversy over the ADGP-Hosabale meeting put the party in a precarious situation. The Opposition UDF mounted an attack on the CPI-M, alleging a deal between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the RSS.
The Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan, has alleged that Ajith Kumar had met Hosabale at the behest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Satheesan said on Sunday that the chief minister sent emissaries to meet RSS/BJP leaders to placate them and do whatever they want to ward off the investigation by Central probe agencies into the cases against him, his family members, and other party leaders.
Satheesan said the CPI-M and the BJP are working in “cooperation by scratching each other’s backs”. In exchange for protecting CPI-M leaders from the scrutiny of Central probe agencies, the BJP state president K Surendran was exempted from the Kodakara money heist case, he alleged.
The Congress leader said as the concealed deal has come into the public domain both the BJP and the CPI-M are cut a sorry figure.
Despite serious allegations against ADGP Ajith Kumar, who is in charge of law and order, including the meeting with the RSS leaders, the chief minister remained silent. Even after the ADGP admitted that he had met the RSS leader Hosabale, the government has not taken any action against him. In this situation, there is deep dissatisfaction within the party and within the Left Front.
While MLA P V Anwar is targeting ADGP M R Ajithkumar, the issue has come in handy to the Opposition which is now using the allegations against the ADGP against the chief minister and the government.
Satheesan and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that the ADGP was the bridge between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the RSS leadership and that’s why the chief minister has been maintaining a silence in the matter. Satheesan alleged that the CPI-M conspired to sabotage the Thrissur pooram to facilitate a BJP win in the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.
P V Anvar, who also waded into the row, alleged that the ADGP has links with the BJP and was present in Thrissur when alleged police intervention undermined the Thrissur Pooram festival. He also alleged that the ADGP’s meeting with the RSS leader was meant to bail out VD Satheesan, who has been facing an ED probe in a case of alleged FCRA violations in connection with mobilising funds for ‘Punarjani’ a rehabilitation project.
When the issue related to former DGP TP Senkumar came up, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had mocked the Opposition. Then, Pinarayi Vijayan defended the issue saying Sen Kumar is in the RSS camp. When Governor Arif Mohammed Khan met the RSS chief, the state secretary of the CPI-M himself raised criticism against it.
The CPI, the second largest constituent in the Left Front, expressed its concern over ADGP Ajith Kumar’s meeting with RSS leader Dattatreya Hosabala. Party’s Kerala secretary Binoy Viswam said the meeting is suspicious.
He said the ADGP should not hold discussions with the RSS leader at the Left government’s expense and he urged an investigation on the matter. “No official should hold such discussions at the expense of the LDF. What knowledge was the ADGP sharing with a representative of RSS? The details of the meeting should be made public. There is no ideological exchange between the RSS and the LDF. The ADGP should not hold discussions with the RSS leader at the Left government’s expense. This matter requires an investigation,” said Binoy Viswam.
CPI-M state secretary M V Govindan said the ADGP’s meeting with the RSS leader had nothing to do with state government. M V Govindan said to whom ADGP MR Ajith Kumar is meeting is not a matter of concern for his party. “There is no need to link it with CPI-M. The meeting between the ADGP and the RSS leader was made controversial by the media,” he said.
Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader PK Kunhalikutty sought Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s response on the issue. Kunhalilkutty said in Kozhikode that such developments were unheard of in Kerala politics.
“This is something that affects the people of the state, and they have a right to know the details. CM Vijayan’s silence does not suit him,” he said.