TP murder issue vexes CPM

KOCHI: The CPM is finding it hard to defend itself among the cadres and voters in Neyyattinkara as the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader T P Chandrasekharan at Onchiyam in Kozhikode has hit the party hard. Though the leaders are trying their level best to prove the innocence of the party in the murder, a section of the cadre and the voters do not seem to be convinced.  Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan’s remarks against Pinarayi Vijayan on the murder issue have added fuel to the debate among the party workers and supporters, the sources in the Neyyattinkara CPM area committee said. They said that some of the party workers and supporters who are already upset over the choice of F Lawrence as the LDF candidate for the bypoll are serious about the gruesome murder. “There is a possibility that a lot of avid supporters of the LDF would think twice before casting their votes for Lawrence,” the sources said.   Though the CPM leaders are trying to distance themselves from the Chandrasekharan murder issue, they could not convince the party members and supporters. However, Neyyattinkara constituency election committee secretary C K Harindran said that the issue would not have any impact on the election. “The party is strong enough to counter the campaign of the Congress. The Congress is not going to gain anything from any kind of campaigns. The party is strong enough to convince the people in the constituency,” he said. Area Committee member Ansalan, who was a frontrunner in the CPM for candidature, said the Congress agenda would not succeed in Neyyattinkara.   The murder has given the Congress a fillip and a sharp political weapon in Neyyatinkara. “It will be hard for the CPM to defend itself. Usually, the state leadership of parties lands up at the constituency only during the last rounds of the campaign. But CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has reached Neyyatinkara early for the campaign and he is camping in the constituency for two days which shows the crisis that has engulfed the CPM with the murder of the RMP leader,” Congress spokesperson M M Hassan said.