CPM removes party worker from official duties after he buys Mini Cooper worth Rs 50 lakh

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) on Friday removed PK Anil Kumar from all official duties after the official found himself in a controversy surrounding a Rs 50 lakh Mini Cooper.

Formerly the General Secretary of the Kerala Petroleum and Gas Workers Union, Kumar had purchased the expensive vehicle a few weeks ago. Pictures of the vehicle went viral on social media, and netizens trolled the communist leader for making the exorbitantly expensive purchase.

The controversy landed Kumar in hot waters with the party, and on Friday, Kumar was removed from all official duties. The decision was taken at the Ernakulam district committee and district secretariat meetings of the CPM, India Today reported.

MV Govindham, the state secretary of the party, disapproved of Kumar’s actions and felt that his continued membership would clash with party principles. Other members of the party echoed a similar sentiment, chiming in on the disapproval. Some officials felt that the purchase of the Mini Cooper was indicative of a “wrong trend”, one that “could not be accepted”.

In his defense, Kumar stated that his wife had purchased the vehicle.

This controversy, however, is far from the party’s first foray into Mini Cooper-related troubles. In 2017, CPM member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan used a Mini Cooper for the Jan Jagratha Yatra. The BJP alleged that the luxury car belonged to a young businessman who was involved in a gold smuggling racket bust in 2013.

“What type of 'Jagratha Yatra' is being taken out by Balakrishnan by travelling in a car owned by a smuggling accused?" Ramesh Chennithal, then leader of the Opposition, had asked in a state assembly.

Balakrishnan responded by saying that local office-bearers had arranged for the vehicle and that he did not investigate the owner before using the car.