THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM secretariat meeting will take place today. The meeting comes at a time when the party leadership is on the defensive, unable to come out of the controversies that are emerging one after the other.

The meeting comes days after the ED conducted raids at the house of AC Moideen MLA. A probe is taking place against Moideen, who is also a party state committee member, over his alleged involvement in the Karuvannur bank fraud case. The senior state committee member came under the shadow of accusations while the party was proceeding with the process of rectification. This naturally puts the CPM in trouble. The question is what message will this send to the workers at the grassroots level?

The fact that the ED raids took place at the time of the Puthuppally by-election campaign is also creating a headache for the CPM. The High Court's stand against the construction of the party area committee office in Idukki and the opposition's accusations against the Chief Minister's daughter are also troubling the party.

The CPM supported Moideen the other day by saying that the ED move was a political hunt. However, the party is anxiously watching the ED's further moves. If the ED takes action such as arrest against the former minister and member of the party's state committee leader, it will tarnish the image of the CPM on a national basis. However, the CPM suspects that the move using ED is part of the Centre's plan to take over the cooperative sector, which has a strong base in Kerala. The other day, the CPM explained that the move against Moideen is the continuation of the hunting of opposition political leaders at the national level using central agencies.