Thiruvananthapuram: A claim by Jemaat e Islami about CPI-M, RSS interactions has caused embarrassment to the communists to the extent of issuing a denial even as the person mediating between the two has admitted the contacts.
Adding to the CPI-M discomfort is a land allocation to the Satsang Foundation, a saffron outfit headed by Shri M, who was the mediator between the two sides. The land was meant for the establishment of a yoga centre in the state capital.
CPI-M central committee member M V Govindan has denied any interactions between RSS and CPI-M and claimed that the association with Shri Em was only in connection with yoga classes. The CPI-M leader described Shri Em as a secular person and asserted there was no political significance to the interactions.
The Satsang Founder leader, meanwhile, claimed in a newspaper interview that he had mediated between CPI-M and RSS following the clashes between the two sides in Kannur. He said that there were two meetings, first in Kannur and the second in Thiruvananthapuram and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had attended both.
He claimed that the meetings were organised in the interest of peace and for the good of the Kerala society and there was no other political significance to the parleys.
Opposition Congress and UDF have been alleging tacit understanding between CPI-M and RSS in certain issues. There have also been allegations of political adjustments between the two sides to defeat UDF candidates in elections.
Referring to the controversy about the land allotment, the Satsang Foundation chief disclosed that his organisation had sent a letter to the chief minister requesting for a plot of land to set up the yoga centre.
He claimed that he came to know about the allotment only from media reports and that he has not specifically received any communication from the government in this regard. But he sent a message of thanks to the chief minister’s office on learning about the land allotment.
The Satsang Founder admitted that he had participated in a yoga camp in Kannur in 2014, in which Pinarayi Vijayan, who was at that time state party secretary, had attended. According to him, the initiative for the camp came from the CPI-M.
Shri Em said that he had been in touch with the chief minister off and on, although there were no regular contacts. He has had high regard for the CPI-M strongman, who, according to him, might still be practising yoga, going by his improved health.
