Reporter’s diary: Pro DMK comments lands Mutharasan in trouble

CPI won two Lok Sabha seats in the just concluded Parliamentary polls in alliance with the DMK which swept the state.

Senior leaders in the CPI were unhappy over Mutharsan, who holds the state secretary post for the second successive term, for going overboard in praising its ally DMK in Tamil Nadu. 

When the DMK president MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi was appointed as the party’s youthwing secretary, Mutharasan not only welcomed the appointment but hailed the decision as a good one.  

“Udhayanidhi played an important role in the campaign for the recent Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly bypolls. His campaign was received well. He played a crucial role in the victory of the Secular Progressive Alliance in the state,” Mutharasan said.

CPI has always stood against dynastic politics and wanted the political parties to function democratically. Being an alliance partner, a senior leader said that there would be a political compulsion to make a statement on such appointments, but it should be guarded and in line with the party’s principles.

Mutharasan has already faced the party leaders’ ire in the state council meeting held immediately after the Lok Sabha polls for his comments on a communal issue which stoked a controversy. Now, he would again be asked to explain his pro-DMK stance, said a leader.