The Communist Party of India (Marxist) district secretariat has denied misappropriation of funds collected for elections, construction of AKG Bhavan, and to assist the family of party martyr C.V. Dhanraj of Payyanur.
The CPI(M) was in a tight spot and faced criticism after allegations of misappropriation of funds of ₹80 lakh were raised at Payyanur. Following this, an internal committee was formed by the party, which filed a report after investigating the matter.
Based on the report, the party had taken action against the leaders in Payyanur. This included demoting Payyanur MLA T.I. Madhusoodanan from Kannur district secretariat to district committee, removing Payyanur area secretary V. Kunhikrishnan, who had lodged the complaint, and demoting area committee members K.K. Gangadharan and T. Viswanathan.
In a statement on Saturday, the party said the district committee took disciplinary action against some workers as per party norms after an investigation and scrutiny of organisational issues in the Payyanur area.
However, the internal committee did not find anyone having made personal gain or embezzled funds. The party had not lost money, the CPIM district secretariat said.
“The party found that the office-bearers had failed to properly audit the revenue and expenditure accounts of the building and the Dhanraj fund and present it to the area committee. This has now been audited and examined,” it said.
The commission of inquiry did not find financial irregularities in the election fund. The office staff found discrepancies. But it was not financial. They accepted their mistake after an explanation was sought. Following this, action was taken against them, the statement said.
The disciplinary action has been approved by the State committee.
