Days after a Communist leader from Pathanamthitta was pulled up for his casteist remark against another Communist leader, the party suspended the him on Saturday for going "against party principles".
The district council that met on Saturday suspended Manoj Charalel, CPI district secretary from the party, for a period of one year for his derogatory comment on Adoor MLA Chittiyum Gopakumar. This was after the committee found Manoj's explanation unsatisfactory.
After taking disciplinary action against Manoj, senior party leaders reportedly asked the district committee to launch a probe into the incident.
Last week, the audio recording of Manoj's telephonic conversation with a woman-presumably his former fiancee- believed to have taken place sometime in January, was circulated on social media.
While talking about a CPI-organized event in the district in which Adoor MLA Gopakumar was to participate, Manoj can be heard saying: “I can’t even drink two drops of water, after seeing Gopakumar’s face.”
Soon after the controversy broke out, party's Pathanamthitta secretary AP Jayan was quick to spring up into action and "protect" the Communist party from being tagged as casteist.
“The party is very clear about how we deal with such matter. No Communist leader ought to make casteist comments even in personal conversations. The party will strongly adhere to this policy," he told reporters.
When TNM reached out to MLA Gopakumar, he said that he did not raise the matter with the party functionaries, as they had already taken note of it.
"Even before I could raise a complaint, the audio-clip was widely circulated and was brought to the notice of the party leaders. In such a case, I did not feel the need to file a complaint. They have already sought an explanation from Manoj," Gopakumar told The News Minute.