KANNUR: CPM central committee member MV Govindan on Monday said that Sri M is a bright example of secularism. The CPM leader also said that he maintains a good relationship with the yogi. MV Govindan was talking to the media in Kannur.

"Sri M is not just a yogi. He is one of India's leading secular scholars of yoga. We have been managing the yoga system in collaboration with him for many years. I have a good relationship with him," Govindan said. Dismissing reports that Sri M had mediated in the CPM-RSS talks, Govindan criticized the media for going after baseless reports.

Govindan also criticized Jamaat-e-Islami on the issue. According to him, a communal outfit like Jamaat-e-Islami will keep raising allegations against Sri M.

The details regarding the CPM-RSS meeting surfaced through journalist Dinesh Narayanan's book 'The RSS and the Making of the Deep Nation'. The details were also mentioned in NP Ullekh's 'Kannur; Inside India's Bloodiest Revenge Politics'.

The details mentioned in the books became a hot topic of discussion after the state government allotted land to Sri M to start a yoga center. According to the books, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan held a meeting with RSS leaders Gopalankutty Master and Vatsan Thillankeri at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. The books also mentioned that Sri M acted as an intermediary in this meeting.