People's Democracy

Kerala: No Wrongdoing Will Be Tolerated

Attempts To Defame Party Will Fail

Prakash Karat

I WAS in Thiruvananthapuram recently for a day to attend the Kerala state committee meeting to report on the central committee decisions. I found the newspapers full of statements and attacks on the CPI(M) on the issue of Deshabhimani, the Party’s daily newspaper, receiving money from a lottery operator of dubious credentials.

The matter was raised in the legislative assembly. Leaders of the Congress and the UDF were in full flow condemning the CPI(M) leadership for corrupt practices and receiving tainted money. Some went to the extent of demanding a CBI probe in the matter.

The issue, naturally, came up in the state committee meeting for discussion. It is necessary to get the facts correct regarding this financial transaction. It is true that the Kerala state secretariat of the Party had approved Deshabhimani issuing “bonds” for raising capital for its plans for expansion and modernisation. This was also reported to the state committee at that time. Unlike what is being alleged in the media and by opponents of the CPI(M), the amount of Rs 2 crore received was not in the form of a “donation”. What the Deshabhimani management did was to invite special deposits in lieu of “bonds” which cannot be issued by Deshabhimani as an entity which is not a company. But the term “bond”, as it is popularly understood, has been used by the Deshabhimani itself. Receipts were issued for a special deposit scheme bearing 5 per cent interest. Such deposits were solicited from the advertisers of the newspaper. It is in this connection that Rs 2 crore deposits in the name of two persons on behalf of the lottery businessman was accepted.

The CPI(M) has its own guidelines about collecting money or receiving funds. The Kerala state committee had set out these guidelines. It was not the 18th Congress which did so, as mentioned in the media. For instance, the CPI(M) will not accept donations from big corporate houses. More than a decade ago, the Party returned a cheque for Rs 9 lakhs sent by a Tata Trust on this account. The Trust had decided to contribute funds to all political parties – according to their strength in parliament. But Deshabhimani is not barred from receiving advertisements from a Tata company for their products. Advertisement revenue is necessary for running the paper.

As a newspaper, which is the third largest circulated daily in Kerala, Deshabhimani has to raise resources periodically for expansion and for upgradation of its equipment. In the highly competitive market in Kerala, the paper has to continuously upgrade its technological and managerial capacities. While this is understood, Deshabhimani is not like other newspapers, particularly of the corporate type which dominates the media in Kerala. It is a newspaper owned and run by a communist party. Everyone in Kerala knows how Deshabhimani was built up. The first printing press was set-up from the money got from the sale of property of EMS Namboodiripad. Time and again, the British authorities proscribed Deshabhimani and imposed fines on it. It was by raising money from the people that the fines were paid and the publication renewed. Deshabhimani has grown into a mass circulated daily with the constant infusion of money raised from the people through mass collections. The working people of Kerala have always seen Deshabhimani as their tribune.

So whatever be the compulsions of the market and the requirements for capital, the Deshabhimani cannot become like the bourgeois media or a corporate newspaper. It will be a newspaper which works within the framework of the ideology and principles of a communist party which represents the working people.

It is in this context that the deposit of funds to the tune of Rs 2 crore from a lottery operator who is accused of illegal operations and faces criminal charges has not been appreciated by the Party members and the supporters of the CPI(M). While it is true that this is not a ‘donation’, the question remains, why should the Deshabhimani have to get financial support from a person, whose reputation is dubious. As the rank and file of the Party and people at large expressed the above feeling, the Party state committee has correctly decided to return the amount.

More disturbing for the Party has been the episode of corruption by a managerial functionary in the newspaper. The fact that this person who was entrusted with an important responsibility by the Party could ask for a bribe and receive Rs 1 crore to get a government decision in favour of the persons concerned, is a cause for alarm. He has been expelled from the Party. The CPI(M) can be justifiably proud of the probity of the chief minister and its ministers in the present LDF government. The past record of the Party, whether it is in government or outside, has been to maintain high standards and be vigilant about any form of corruption manifesting itself among its leadership and cadres. This regrettable incident needs to be taken with the utmost seriousness. When the Party is in government, all sorts of elements will seek to worm their way to seek favours and undue privileges. This bribe-taking episode should be a warning for the entire Party to be vigilant and to firmly deal with any violation of communist norms or corrupt practices.

That the CPI(M) is drawing the proper lessons from the two incidents can seen from the decision of the state committee asking the secretariat to ascertain all the facts and the circumstances of these two affairs and submit a report. The Party will take whatever corrective measures are necessary.

We are sure, the CPI(M) in Kerala will be able to establish before the people that it is a Party which does not tolerate any wrong doing and has the capacity to correct any mistakes or deviations when they occur. The opponents of the CPI(M) who are hurling false and motivated charges will fail in their game to defame the Party.