Political murder charge: Kerala CPM split wide open

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM in Kerala is scrambling to limit damage after its Idukki district chief's controversial remarks that the party kills off its political rivals. And in a first, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi slammed the CPM - a move that has been interpreted as the BJP's out-reach to Mamata Banerjee.

Confessions of a CPM insider, Idukki district secretary MM Mani narrating the history of political eliminations in the state at a rally in his home town. And with this, Mani considered close to state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan has opened a can of worms, at a time when the CPM in Kerala has faced heat over the murder of a rebel leader.

TP Chandrasekharan's murder earlier this month has rekindled memories of violent political retribution in Kerela.

TP Chandrasekharan\'s murder earlier this month has rekindled memories of violent political retribution in Kerela.

Chandrasekharan, once a loyal CPM cadre and an Achutanandan man was murdered allegedly for rebelling and floating his own party. Now Mani's controversial statements about the party killing off its rivals has given ammunition to the opposition Congress.

"Mani clearly says these types of killings will take place in the future too. Mani also revealed something very important - that he's given many new clues about the murder of some people which will be investigated in detail," Kerala Chief Minster Oommen Chandy said.

More importantly, even the BJP, which has no stake in Kerala's politics, has attacked the Left.

"The government is all set to reopen the cases mentioned by Mani and take legal action against more partymen if necessary. With the Neyya-Tinkara by-poll round the corner, it looks like the Left front could pay a heavy price for all this and more," Modi said.

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