Close on the heels of a "gold and land'' scheme launched by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala to collect donations, yet another fund raise of the party has come under public scrutiny.
The latest from the Marxist stable is the news that it has mobilised Rs 1.15 crore from Kannur district alone to fight the death penalty imposed recently by a local court against five of its comrades in the case relating to the brutal murder of a Yuva Morcha leader in front of his students in 1999. The party's political critics say there is no way it can mobilise such a large amount from Kannur.
CPM's Kannur district secretary M V Govindan, MLA, claimed in Kannur that though the party had expected to collect only Rs 50 lakh, the response was overwhelming and Rs 1,15,15474.70 was collected. "This proves how the people view the death sentences awarded to the five convicts,'' Mr Govindan said.
However, BJP Kannur district President, P P Karunakaran said that the CPM's plan was to "whiten the black money with it''. "Leave alone the Rs 1.15 crore, nobody will believe that the party collected Rs 15 lakh from the Panur area alone as claimed,'' he said. The CPM has commissioned noted Supreme Court criminal lawyer Rajendra Singh to fight the case. Appeals were filed on behalf of the five accused in the Kerala High Court yesterday.
It may be recalled that it was only a couple of months ago that the party decided to solicit donations in gold and land to build a memorial building for its late stalwart P Krishna Pillai in Alappuzha. Nevertheless, the response to the novel method has been good. However, the party received a setback when its efforts to mobilise funds to convert its magazine Chintha into a publishing house met with a firm "no" from its feeder organisations recently.
The pro-CPM organisation of government
employees and teachers, which was set a target amount by the party as usual,
said it was busy collecting funds to help its striking counterparts in
Tamil Nadu and will not be able to raise the money for the new cause.