CPM to expel Madhu; decision taken at Thiruvananthapuram district secretariat meeting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM has decided to expel former Mangalapuram Area Secretary Madhu Mullassery from the party. The decision was taken at yesterday's emergency CPM district secretariat meeting. Madhu had walked out of the Mangalapuram area committee conference after losing the contest for the post of Area Secretary.

As Madhu is an area committee member elected at the Mangalapuram conference, his expulsion requires approval from the state committee. It has been decided to send the recommendation of the district secretariat to the state committee.

Soon after the district secretariat announced its decision, Madhu came out hinting at joining the BJP. He claimed to have spoken with leaders from both Congress and BJP, but hasn't made a final decision on which party to join.

The decision to expel Madhu from the party was taken at a meeting attended by state secretariat member Anavoor Nagappan. The decision was made due to Madhu's actions such as walking out of the representative conference and responding against leaders in front of the media. All these are considered serious offences by the district secretariat.

The CPM has 19 area committees in Thiruvananthapuram district. The conferences of 17 area committees have been completed so far. Apart from criticisms raised during the delegates' discussions, there were no organizational issues in other places. In some conferences, the secretary was elected through voting. However, the Mangalapuram area committee witnessed factionalism which didn't occur elsewhere.

Although the party leadership had initially announced before the area committee conference that the area secretary in Mangalapuram would be replaced, it later clarified that such a change would not happen. This gave Madhu the confidence that he would be able to continue in his position. However, the party devised a strategy to make Madhu contest the election and lose. Even those who supported Madhu were persuaded to align with the leadership at the last moment. As a result, Madhu's vote count dropped to five. Meanwhile, Jaleel, who had the backing of the district leadership, secured 16 votes.