LDF meets amid reports of CPI(M)-CPI rift over Kerala ADGP’s continuation in office

LDF meeting in Kerala to address rift over ADGP-RSS controversy, with political implications for ruling front.

A crucial meeting of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala will commence at the AKG Centre in the State capital at 3 p.m. on Wednesday (September 11, 2024).

The summit assumes political significance against the backdrop of the arguably deepening fissures in the ruling front over the continuation of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar, whose alleged secret meetings with apex-level RSS apparatchiks in 2023 have seemingly caught the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in the eye of a political storm. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan, CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam and other alliance leaders will likely attend the closed-door meeting. Recently nominated LDF convenor T.P. Ramakrishnan will preside.

The perceived rift between the CPI(M) and the CPI over the issue appeared more conspicuous on Wednesday, with CPI leader and Deputy Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly Chittayam Gopakumar strongly differing with Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s statement that there was nothing amiss in a senior officer meeting the top leaders of an “important organisation.”

Mr. Gopakumar said Mr. Shamseer’s statement ran against LDF policy. He reminded the Speaker that P. Sundarayya, one of the founding leaders of the country’s communist movement, had flagged the “socially disruptive, revanchist and anti-constitutional nature” of the RSS.

Mr. Gopakumar also addressed the controversy surrounding Mr. Kumar’s alleged interactions with the RSS and the accusations of corruption, criminality, and anti-people policies that LDF Independent legislator P.V. Anvar had raised against the ranking officer.

Mr. Gopakumar said an independent probe into Mr. Anvar’s accusation warranted Mr. Kumar’s removal from the top post.