Kunhikrishnan vs Madhusoodanan in Payyannur

KOZHIKODE: Expelled CPM leader V Kunhikrishnan announced on Monday that he would contest the Payyannur assembly seat as an independent candidate against CPM leader and incumbent MLA T I Madhusoodanan against whom he had earlier levelled allegation of misappropriating party funds.Announcing his candidature, the 74-year-old former CPM district committee member said his fight was against corruption and should not be interpreted as a fight against the Left.Kunhikrishnan said that he had earlier publicly stated that he would not contest the elections as he believed the party would refrain from fielding Madhusoodanan in view of the serious allegations against him.“But the party went ahead and fielded him, leaving me with no other option but to continue my fight by contesting the elections,” said Kunhikrishnan.

He argued that Madhusoodanan could not be considered a genuine representative of Left politics, alleging that the MLA had been functioning like a “bourgeois political leader.”“How can someone who is aligned with Left ideology misappropriate a martyr’s fund? How can such a person be called a representative of the Left?” he asked.Madhusoodhanan said that efforts were being made to hand over the the Left movement and the CPM in Payyannur to “mafia groups”.

“My aim is to rescue the party in Payyannur from the clutches of such groups,” he said.He also expressed the belief that the Congress and the UDF might support his candidature, noting that the Congress had recently taken a similar position elsewhere.“I raised these issues publicly only after years of attempts to resolve them within the party failed. The party has not been able to provide an explanation that would convince the public,” he said.

He added that in such a situation, it was the party and the Left that risked defeat.“I believe the party and the Left should not suffer defeat. That is why I decided to fight against the degeneration and wrong stands that are weakening the movement,” he said.Kunhikrishnan acknowledged the significant role played by the Left in Kerala’s development but said that recent decisions by the leadership were weakening the front.“My appeal to the people is to correct these degenerative tendencies,” he added.