The deft move will deprive the opposition of a weapon to grill the government in the State Assembly which started its session on Monday. Ajit Kumar was in the eye of a political storm after the Opposition and the Communist Party of India (CPI) accused him of having held secret talks with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leadership and scuttling the world famous Thrissur Pooram festival to ensure the victory of BJP candidate Suresh Gopi in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.

The genesis of the ADGP issue can be traced to LDF-backed Independent MLA P V Anvar’s accusation against Ajit Kumar of indulging in criminality, corruption and illegal amassment of wealth. The crux of Anvar’s charge was that the ADGP had links with an illegal tree felling case in Malappuram district. Not only that. Ajit Kumar also used plainclothes police squads to waylay gold carriers for their contraband, and acquired prime properties in Thiruvananthapuram.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had refused to concede Anvar’s demand to sack the ADGP straightaway. The Chief Minister held – rightly so – that senior police officers cannot be suspended merely on the basis of accusations against them. There is an accepted legal process which had to be gone through. A Director General of Police (DGP)-level probe has been ordered into the matter. And action can be taken only on the basis of the report of the probe into the charges. That was the position the CM took. The Chief Minister was being cautious as in an earlier case, former DGP TP Senkumar, who had been removed from his position, managed to secure a favourable order from the Supreme Court , which ordered his reinstatement as DGP. The CM was keen to ensure a fool-proof case against Ajit Kumar so that there is no repeat of the Senkumar episode.

But Anvar refused to accept that stand and broke with the LDF without waiting for the outcome of the investigation that had been ordered against Ajit Kumar. The State police chief has since submitted his report which found lapses in the conduct of the ADGP both in meeting the RSS leaders and in law and order maintenance. And the CM has promptly removed him from the top post.

The Opposition has now come up with a strange argument. That his removal from the top post and giving him the charge only of a battalion was no action! This is nothing but a foolish argument. The very act of removing a senior officer from a top post is an action. Further action like suspension, etc, can follow only when the reports of two other inquiries that had been ordered against Ajit for alleged amassment of wealth and criminality are out. The opposition’s chagrin can be understood as it has lost a chance to weaponise the ADGP issue to harass the Government.

The strong stand taken by the CPI also hastened the exit of Ajit Kumar. CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam had met the Chief Minister with the request that the controversial ADGP be removed forthwith. The CM assured him of a favourable decision as soon as the report of the probe is received. Police officers with pronounced RSS leanings cannot find place in the police force when a Left Government is in power. That was the firm stand taken by the CPI. The Opposition’s attempts to create a rift between the CPI(M ) and the CPI have failed miserably with the decision taken by the Chief Minister to show Ajit Kumar the door.

The other political development which the State witnessed on Sunday was the launching of a new political movement by Anvar. Anvar’s is desperate to acquire political legitimacy and relevance as the Congress-led United Democratic Front(UDF) has not welcomed him in to the front with open arms. And his attempt to remove ‘political untouchability’ by trying to gain admission into the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led front in Tamil Nadu has fizzled out. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin politely refused to meet him. And a few DMK leaders whom Anvar managed to meet also ruled out Anvar’s entry into the ruling front in the State. Stalin took the right stand that Anvar cannot be admitted into the Front in which the CPI(M) is an important partner. Extremely cordial relations with Pinarayi Vijayan cannot be spoiled merely for accommodating a maverick politician who ditches a front without any valid reason.

It is not easy to form a political party just like that. It is Anvar’s realisation that there are certain legal hurdles in forming a party that has forced him to launch a mere political movement. The reason is that he still remains a member of the CPI(M) Parliamentary Party in the Kerala Assembly. The CPI(M) is yet to expel him from the front in the assembly formally. What it has done – which amounts to making a powerful political statement – is to allot him a seat on the Opposition’s side!

Hence his decision to launch, instead, a political movement, whose basis is a blatant appeal to communal sentiments. The nefarious designs behind his political moves are too clear to merit an explanation. The attempt is to weaken the influence of the CPI(M) and other LDF constituents among the Muslim minority community, especially in the Muslim-majority Malappuram district. But the people of Kerala are intelligent enough to see through the sinister game of Anvar.

In fact, the Opposition made a determined attempt to discredit the Chief Minister for his interview to the English daily The Hindu. The opposition had accused him attributing gold smuggling and hawala racketeering to a particular region (read Malappuram) and people in an interview which appeared in the Hindu dated September 30.

The Chief Minister said he had made no such observation during the interview. The Hindu later issued a clarification stating that it was added at the instance of a PR representative who organised the meeting. Pinarayi also said the Hindu had shown the courage to admit the error, which was rare in modern-day journalism. He also emphatically denied having asked any private agency to talk to the media. The son of a former CPI(M) MLA had called on him at the Kerala House in New Delhi and told him that the Hindu had requested an interview. “Being The Hindu, I was interested and agreed.” Pinarayi also said that the averment that the former MLA’s son had sent The Hindu a request seeking the inclusion of the controversial statement as the CM’s words warranted scrutiny. “I knew the youngster also as a party activist. He has not contacted me since the news broke,” he added. An angry CM also warned the media against dragging him into the market-driven rivalry for ratings.

As for the CPI(M) and the party-led Government, both are right in seeing in the coming together of both majority and minority communal forces ahead of the local bodies elections in 2025 to create social divisiveness and undermine the LDF Government and its progressive and secular credentials. CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan hit the nail on the head when he said that Anvar’s fulminations and direct attacks against the Chief Minister are the latest manifestation of the re-emerge of the anti-Left forces.

Govindan also made a significant revelation: that the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami had held secret talks with the Sangh Parivar recently. Though seemingly opposed, the Jamaat and the Sangh Parivar complemented each other. Both are bent upon destroying the secular foundation of the State and replacing it with theocratic polities. Unfortunately, the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) are helping the communal forces on either side of the religious spectrum. The CPI(M), Govindan claimed, had made deep inroads into the IUML’s bastion in Malappuram by fielding Left Independents in elections. Besides, the CPI(M)’s growing influence among the minorities has unnerved the IUML. That fear explains the Opposition’s changing its secular stance and adopting a communal line in north Kerala. (IPA Service)