Munnar crackdown to resume despite war of words between CPM, CPI
- The controversies surrounding Munnar land grab had strained the relations of CPM and CPI
- After a brief lull, the revenue officials will resume operations against land grab and illegal encroachments on Monday
FollowSenior CPM leader and Power Minister MM Mani warned the other day against trying to bring bulldozers to Munnar to evict encroachments. The officials and media persons who come to evict people in the name of encroachments will not go back as they arrived, the minister warned a day after the CPM worker’s attempt to block Devikulam Sub collector and his team from removing a shed illegally built on public land.
Related: Mani and Munnar strain CPM-CPI relations once again
But the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Revenue Minister E Chandrashekharan is undaunted by the criticism. “The department will go ahead with evictions in Munnar,” the minister told Asianet News. The department and the government will give all support to any action, within the legal parameters, to remove encroachments. “It is up to the CPM to check the ministers and leaders who speak against government’s policy,” he said referring to the comments by MM Mani.
Related: Chinks wide open: CPI state secretary raps Prakash Karat, Pinarayi Vijayan
After a brief lull, the revenue officials will resume operations against land grab and illegal encroachments on Monday. A high-level meeting would be held before the team launches the crackdown. The officials had served notices to illegal buildings and land grabbers. The encroachments would be removed as per the expiry of the notice.
The controversies surrounding Munnar land grab had strained the relations of CPM and CPI, the two major partners in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government. Ministers and leaders of CPM and CPI had come out in the open against each other over it.
The issue came to a flash point when a group of CPM workers stopped and manhandled revenue officials headed by Devikulam Sub collector Sreeram Venkitaraman. Revenue Minister Chandrashekharan had rang up the Chief Minister’s office and demanded action against the CPM workers who blocked the Sub collector.
