CPI(M) activist and lawyer Vidhya Sangeeth in a petition sent to Kerala Director-General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera has sought protection for her and family. She has alleged that certain leaders from the CPI(M) and a real estate group have a vendetta against her for opposing real estate projects.
The lawyer said it all started after she sent a letter to the Kerala Chief Secretary referring to a government gazette published on January 21. She requested that a 19-acre paddy field in Thrissur’s Puzhakkal, which was earlier allegedly to be used to construct villas and flats under the name of Sobha City by real estate group Sobha Limited, be retained as paddy fields as mentioned in the gazette.
“On the basis of the government gazette, I convened a meeting with the press on February 4 at the Thrissur Press Club,” she said in the petition.
Vidhya alleged that after she held the press conference, a top leader of the CPI(M) rang her up and asked her to put an end to the legal battle she was waging against the company. He allegedly asked her to give a written apology and instructed her to follow instructions from the party in the future.
Vidhya was a Puthurkara branch committee member of the CPI(M). She alleges that the branch committee convened a meeting with “utmost secrecy” on the night of February 15, in which it was decided not to renew her membership. The decision was communicated to her by the Puthurkara branch secretary over phone the next morning, she alleges in the petition.
The petition, sent to the DGP and accessed by TNM, said, “There is a conspiracy against me from the branch level of the CPI(M) to the top level. There have also been attempts by the party to force and threaten me from moving ahead against Sobha City. The action to remove me from the CPI(M) is concomitant with that decision.” Vidhya said that she fears for her safety.
Speaking to TNM, Vidhya alleges that the branch committee meeting was in violation of the CPI(M)’s constitution as the members are bound to inform her of the meeting earlier. “People who didn’t toe the line with the CPI(M) have been murdered in the state. No one from the district leadership has called me up so far, which means that all this happened with their knowledge. I was also a victim of cyber-attack after I held the press meet,” Vidhya said.
However, when contacted, CPI(M) Thrissur district secretary MM Varghese dismissed the allegations and said that he was not aware of the issue.
Vidhya said that in her press meet she alleged that the Sobha group constructed buildings on a total of 79 acres on paddy fields, after which she had petitioned the Chief Secretary that the lands should be reinstated as paddy fields.
In July 2014, she complained to the Thrissur District Collector that the Sobha group illegally converted 19 acres of paddy fields at Puzhakkal Pazhanchira in Kolazhy grama panchayat. However, no action was taken on the complaint. Later she approached the Kerala High Court and a bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan had ordered a stay on the construction. The HC also directed that the 19 acres be converted back to paddy fields.
Vidhya, in her petition, alleged that after the HC issued the stay order, the Sobha group harboured a grudge towards her. In 2014, she also lodged a complaint alleging an attack.
When asked for reaction, a spokesperson of Sobha Limited told TNM that since the matter is subjudice, “the company would restrain itself from responding to the allegations. Sobha Limited is a responsible business entity and does not believe in threatening anyone.”
Vidhya, who was formerly a district panchayat member with the United Democratic Front (UDF), joined the CPI(M) as a card holding member in 2016 and was functioning as a Puthurkara branch committee member. She is also a district committee member of the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU), an affiliate of the CPI(M).