Kerala

Somnath betrayed party, says Pinarayi

MALAPPURAM: Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said here on Wednesday that Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had betrayed the party in a big way by siding with the Congress.

Mr. Vijayan was inaugurating a meeting on “First the book, then the teacher” organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) to protest against the death of James Augustine, headmaster of ALP School, Valillapuzha, during a protest against the cluster training of teachers.

Mr. Vijayan said however big a party member might be, he or she would have to go out if the party codes are breached.The CPI(M) had expelled several who worked against the party rules.

Mr. Vijayan said the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) should expel its national general secretary and Union Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamed, from the party for his disobedience. (There were reports in a section of the media that Mr. Ahamed did not resign from the Cabinet despite the pressure from the Muslim League leadership in Kerala.)

Mr. Vijayan said the headmaster was a victim of Muslim Youth League violence.

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