Expel Padmakumar from party: Chennithala to CPI(M) gen secy M A Baby

Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala on Saturday wrote to CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, urging the immediate expulsion of former TDB president A Padmakumar from the party, saying he is an accused in the Sabarimala gold loss cases. In his letter, Chennithala noted that Padmakumar has been in jail since November last year, following his arrest by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Lord Ayyappa shrine. The Congress leader added that both the vigilance court and the Kerala High Court have rejected Padmakumar's repeated attempts to seek bail, highlighting his role in the cases. ''Yet, no disciplinary action has been taken against Padmakumar by the CPI(M), whose leaders claim the charges against him were unclear,'' Chennithala said. He alleged that no action was being taken because the CPI(M) in Kerala feared Padmakumar might reveal details of approximately Rs 10 crore collected under his leadership by the party during the last Lok Sabha polls. Chennithala also claimed that the former Travancore Devaswom Board president led the alleged conspiracy to misappropriate gold from the Sabarimala shrine and urged Baby to immediately expel him from the party. The SIT is probing two cases related to the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple. So far, the SIT has arrested 12 persons in the cases, two of whom are out on statutory bail as no charge sheet has been filed to date.