Kerala assembly elections 2026: CPM expels senior leader T K Govindan, denies allegations he raised

KANNUR: CPM on Tuesday expelled senior leader and former district secretariat member T K Govindan who had levelled serious allegations against the leadership. The party’s disciplinary action came a day after the rebel leader ended his six-decade-long association with the Communist party and announced that he would contest as independent candidateagainst CPM’s PK Shyamala, wife of party state secretary M V Govindan, from Taliparamba. CPM Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh in a news conference denied all allegations levelled by the expelled leader, terming them “baseless and misleading”. “Govindan has succumbed to parliamentary opportunism and became a tool of the UDF by seeking a parliamentary position,” Ragesh said.He added that organizational position is important for party leaders rather than parliamentary posts. “Govindan held many key organizational posts, including district secretariat member. The party was not aware of his ambition for a parliamentary berth,” Ragesh said, adding that any party committee had not proposed his name for candidature.Defending the party decision to field Shyamala in Taliparamba, he said that selection of candidates is a collective decision taken after detailed discussions at various levels, and not by any individual leader.Meanwhile, Govindan said that a party cannot be protected for long by telling lies. He said that while lies may help one hold on for a short while, the truth will inevitably emerge in a more fierce and devastating form.He was responding to the criticisms raised by state secretariat member M V Jayarajan and district secretary Ragesh.