CPM Makes M. M. Mani – who openly boasted of CPM killing opponents – a Minister: so much for propriety comrade!

MANMATH DESHPANDE

CPM leader who was a district secretary in Kerala, M M Mani openly boasted in a public speech in 2012 that the CPM had killed many of its opponents in the past! Mani made headlines in India and abroad in 2012 and faced murder charges by bragging in a party rally that his party had killed political rivals in the past. The CPM would continue to do the same, he had stated.

“We made a list of 13 people who worked against the party and made it public. One, two, three… We killed the first three of them. One was killed by the bullet; another one stabbed. The third one was beaten to death,” he said, igniting a big controversy in the state.

As for the CPI(M)s hypocrisy, it removed Mani from his position after this in June 2012. But then brought him back again on the same post later on 25 October 2013!

In between Mani was also arrested in November 2012 in  light of boastful confessions on killing CPM opponents. The SIT was formed after Mani made a controversial statement in one of his speeches, claiming that a list of 13 political opponents was prepared to be killed. During investigations done by the SIT, four murders that occurred in Idukki were found to have links to this statement. Mani was arrested on 21 Nov 2012 in connection with the case registered for murder of Anchery Baby, a Youth Congress leader who was shot dead on November 13, 1982. The SIT is also probing the murder of Mullanchira Mathai (beaten to death in January 1983), Muttukad Nanappan (stabbed to death in June 1983) and Balu (hacked to death in 2004).

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And now this man M M Mani has been made a Minister in the Kerala Government of the Left Front, after misdeeds of E P Jayarajan forced his exit.

Jayarajan had different issues. The Enquiry Commission Judge asked the vigilance police to re-open the Rs 2-crore bribery case that involved CPM mouthpiece Deshabhimani general manager and CPM central committee member E P Jayarajan and another corruption case against its deputy general manager P Venugopal.

While, Jayarajan (CPM Central Committee member) allegedly accepted a Rs 2 crore bribe from lottery king Santiago Martin, wanted in Kerala for evading tax worth several crores, Venugopal had taken Rs 1-crore from LiS, a fraudulent money chain in Kerala.

The CPM initially claimed the money from Martin was taken as a bond by Jayarajan, but later contradicted its own statement saying the amount was an advance for advertisement costs. The U-turn came after the party consulted legal experts and realised that Deshabhimani could not have legally floated bonds. The party thus was also fully involved in a cover-up attempt of a bribe of Rs 2 crores being taken by the general manager of its mouthpiece and a Central Committee member of the party- Jayarajan.

Despite these charges, it made Jayarajan Minister in 2016, and soon had to replace him owing to new issues which were on nepotism- appointment of friends and family to important positions. And now, removing Jayarajan from the Ministry, they have decided to induct Mani, who openly boasted of CPM killing opponents!

Media is silent on this issue, allowing CPM to go scot-free. Ask Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and others like Kejriwal on this act of CPM! There should be prime-time TV debates on this story- as to how Mani and Jayarajan can become Ministers, and how the CPM dishonestly justified the 2 crore Rupee bribe taken by Jayarajan by first calling it a ‘bond’ and then later ‘advertizement costs’. But no questions will be asked – because on the one hand we have spouses of politbureau members controlling newspapers and on the other hand so many with “badges of honour” that they refuse to discuss these.

(The author is a commentator, blogger and writer. He as authored the widely read, “Gujarat Riots: the true story”, an incisive analysis exposing the many myths that have been weaved around that episode)