Row over Vakkom remarks rages

Congress-I state unit President K. Muraleedharan said here yesterday that he would bring to the notice of party President Sonia Gandhi the controversial remarks made by Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman about groupism in the party.

Vakkom said recently that MLAs in the Congress-I were prisoners of party factions and that group leaders made use of them to serve their interests. He also said those not in any group were being sidelined while sharing power and they needed to unite to assert their rights.

The Speaker's statements gave rise to speculation that he was trying to form a new group in the party which already had four groups.

Muraleedharan said the Speaker was behaving in a manner not befitting his post. He urged Vakkom to refrain from such remarks as he was occupying an important constitutional position, which was above group and party politics.

Senior Congress-I leader and Muraleedharan's father, K. Karunakaran, opposition leaders like Communist Party of India-Marxist State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and former Speakers M. Vijayakumar and A.C. Jose had rebuffed Vakkom's statements noting that a Speaker should not dabble in party politics.

Referring to Muraleedharan's criticism, Vakkom retorted that the Congress-I state unit President himself was the best example of his statement that leaders were making gains in the name of groups.

The Speaker was alluding to Muraleedharan's elevation as the Congress-I State unit President with the backing of the 'I' group led by his father.

"The groupism in the party flouting all norms of discipline has been a source of constant pain for me for quite some time. Several times people have kicked up controversies because I tell the truth," said Vakkom.

Referring to Pinarayi's criticism, he said: "If the CPI-M leader was hurt by my statement that means I said something that would do some good to my party".

He also said Karunakaran should not have made "such cheap remarks about me".