CPM’s H Salam hits back at G Sudhakaran, calls him a ‘political clown’

Kottayam: Calling him a ‘political clown’, CPM functionary H Salam criticized MLA G Sudhakaran and questioned whether he has the qualification to unlace former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s footwear.

Salam’s remarks came in a Facebook post responding to Sudhakaran’s description of Vijayan as a ‘drenched rooster’ and his mockery of former finance minister K N Balagopal as someone who cannot speak properly.

Salam warned Sudhakaran not to mistake the restraint shown by party members for weakness. It was due to Vijayan’s magnanimity that Sudhakaran’s ‘anti-corruption mask’ was not torn off, Salam said in the post.

Salam questioned why Sudhakaran, who was not a candidate in the 2021 assembly election, collected money and challenged him to publish accounts of the funds collected then. “Does Sudhakaran have the courage to reveal from whom and how many lakhs he collected? Many secrets known only to him and two or three people at his home are public today,” he wrote.

Vijayan, Salam wrote, is someone who gave up a ministerial position to become party secretary, led CPM boldly for decades, and steered LDF to a consecutive term in power. Salam added that Sudhakaran had no standing to lace the shoes of such a communist who, despite the needless provocations, still showed him more consideration than he deserved.

Salam also reminded Sudhakaran that voters did not give him a licence to insult anyone from CPM’s top brass to its local workers. “Those standing beside you may be laughing. But in front of the people, you are becoming a political clown,” he wrote.