Exodus in Pathanamthitta a body blow for the CPM

THIRUVALLA: The exodus from the rank and file of the CPM has started surfacing in the Pathanamthitta district, one of the hotbeds of groupism and factionalism in the CPM. Frustrated by the nauseating groupism, 74 hardcore workers of the CPM in Kaviyoor had not renewed their membership this year.These workers led by Kaviyoor CPM’s former local committee secretary S Satheesh, who is also the former DYFI area secretary, have decided to join the CPI.Coming close on the heels of the exit of R Selvaraj from the party and the brutal murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan, who had been expelled from the CPM a couple of years ago, the exodus will be a body blow to the official faction of the CPM in the district.‘‘The active workers who have toiled and moiled for decades for boosting the growth of the CPM are being ignored and sidelined now,’’ Satheesh told Express.‘‘This has driven us to the wall and hence we decided to take the extreme step,’’ he said.Satheesh, 40, who has studied up to the post-graduation- level after braving the adverse situations of party work, felt that he and his comrades-in-arms had not received the deserving recognition for the party work of over two decades.‘‘Nobody from the CPM had approached us when we decided not to renew the membership,’’ he said. ‘‘As I had devoted my fruitful youth days for full-time party work, I forgot to earn a gainful employment also,’’ he confessed.Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union’s former district committee member T M Kunjachan, P T Ajayan, V K Gopi, George K S, Bijomon Thomas and Suresh P T are the prominent leaders who will join the CPI along with Satheesh.‘‘All the 74 activists will be welcomed into the CPI at a meeting to be held at Kammalathakidi in Kaviyoor at 5 pm on May 11,’’ CPI Thiruvalla Mandalam secretariat member Vinu Mathew told Express.The meeting will be inaugurated by CPI leader and former Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran.CPI local secretary P G Sivan Pillai will preside.CPI Pathanamthitta district secretary P Prasad and CPI State Committee member A P Jayan are among those who will speak on the occasion.