The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has pushed back against the “capital punishment” controversy centred around the late leader and former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who died at the age of 101 on July 21.
The recent portrayal by two former CPI(M) insiders that the party had singled out Achuthanandan for harsh criticism during its 2015 State conference in Alappuzha, forcing the veteran to exit the venue in distress, sparked the dispute, which erupted, discomfortingly for the party, in the wake of the outpouring of public grief for the departed leader.
The controversy flared last week after former CPI(M) legislator and dramatist Pirappancode Murali alleged that a young leader had rhetorically recommended ‘capital punishment’ for Achuthanandan, following the presentation of a ‘chargesheet’, accusing the veteran of pursuing a cult of the individual that undervalued the role of the party and the masses in the struggle for working-class goals.
On Friday (July 25, 2025) last, CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan dismissed Mr. Murali’s averments, terming them “pure nonsense”. He noted that Mr. Murali was no longer a party member and alleged that the latter had stoked controversy to get traction for an upcoming memoir. He accused the “right-wing” media of “vilifying communist leaders when alive and canonising them when dead to weaken the party”.
