By TCN News,
Malappuram: CPI national council member M Rahmatullah quit the party and joined the Muslim League. Later the CPI officially announced to have ousted him from the party. Rahmatullah later explained that he left the party in protest against its stand towards religious minorities.
Mr Rahmatullah left the CPI after he was asked explanation by the party for the failure of the CPI candidate in Ernad constituency in the Assembly election. CPI candidate Ashrafali Kaliyath got only a small number of votes, less than even the independent candidate PV Anvar. And Mr Rahmatullah, senior leader in Malappuram district, is accused to have helped Mr Anvar against the party candidate.Muslim League’s PK Basheer won in Ernad for more than 11000 votes majority.
M Rahmatullah
There is no influence of power politics behind the decision to leave CPI and join the League, said Mr Rahmatullah in a press conference. The CPI candidate in Ernad constituency failed miserably as he did not get the votes of the CPI (M), which is powerful in the area. The party, instead of asking explanation from the CPI (M), asked me and Malappuram district secretary for an explanation. The CPI should have the guts to question the CPI (M). Mr Rahmatullah also said that the CPI forgets religious minorities when thinking of power politics, and that he had been protesting against this in the party venues. He added that he joined the Muslim League to fight for the rights of religious minorities and the Muslim League was a pure secular organisation.
Muslim League secretaries Adv KNA Qder and KPA Majeed, District Cooperative Bank president Adv UA Latheef and state working committee member PV Muhammed Areekode also attended the press conference.
Rahmatullah received the membership of the Muslim League from state president Syed Hyderali Shihab Thangal from the latter’s house at Panakkad yesterday morning. Adv KNA Qader, Adv UA Latheef and PV Muhammed Areekode also accompanied him to Panakkad.
Mr Rahmatullah was serving as a member of the state executive committee of the CPI and chairman of the Kerala state Housing Board. He has resigned from party membership and the chairman post of Housing Board. He has also reportedly requested to remove him from the Board of Directors of the CPI’s ‘Janayugam’ daily. Mr Rahmatullah has earlier served as the party’s Malappuram district secretary.
Meanwhile, CPI state secretary CK Chandrappan informed in a press conference that Mr Rahmatullah was thrown out of the party. He accused that Rahmatullah was a traitor and urged to save the party of such traitors. He added that Rahmatullah left the party and joined League without informing anybody, after he had served in the party for a long time and enjoyed its positions. There were requests to field an independent in the constituency, but the party refused it. Then Rahmatullah helped the independent candidate publicly and privately, said Mr Chandrappan. He added that the party would decide later on the matter of others who worked along with Mr Rahmatullah.
The state secretariat of the CPI met at the party headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram and took the decision to throw Rahmatullah out of the party yesterday. The party has also reportedly decided to send some state leaders to Malappuram. The Malappuram district executive committee and general body of the party will be held in the presence of assistant secretary CN Chandran, ex-minister Binoy Viswom and E Chandrashekharan, who will reach the district today.
[Photo Courtesy: madhyamam.com]