India News | No Ban on P K Sreemathi in Attending Secretariat Meetings, Says CPI Gen Secy Baby
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Sunday dismissed reports that party Central Committee member and former MP P K Sreemathi had been barred from attending the Kerala state secretariat meetings of the Left party.
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 27 (PTI) CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Sunday dismissed reports that party Central Committee member and former MP P K Sreemathi had been barred from attending the Kerala state secretariat meetings of the Left party.
Responding to media reports claiming that Sreemathi, a former health minister, was barred from attending meetings at the behest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Baby clarified that there was no such restriction.
He urged the media to verify the proceedings of the secretariat meetings before publishing such reports.
"There is no ban on Sreemathi. She will attend the secretariat meetings where her presence is required. Sreemathi is an all-India leader. It is important to verify whether everything being reported actually happened," Baby said.
He also added that Sreemathi had participated in the state committee meeting held the previous day and would continue to attend all organisational meetings that required her participation.
Reacting to the reports, former Kannur MP Sreemathi posted on Facebook, calling the news linking her to a "ban" from the state secretariat meetings "completely baseless."
She also urged the media outlet that published the report to withdraw it.
A section of the media had earlier reported that an "unusual ban" had been imposed on Sreemathi at the state secretariat meeting held after the recent Party Congress in Madurai, Tamil Nadu as per the 'special interest' of the chief minister.
In the CPI(M), the state secretariat is the powerful body selected from the state committee members after the party's state conference.
CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan also clarified that the reports claiming Sreemathi was barred from attending the secretariat meetings were false.
"Sreemathi is a member of the Central Committee and works primarily focusing on the Centre," he said.
He further explained that Sreemathi was omitted from the party's state committee based on an organisational decision.
She had earlier been a member of the state committee and the secretariat, but was excluded after crossing the age limit of 75, Govindan added.
According to media reports, CM Vijayan argued that the age relaxation applied only to the Central Committee and could not be extended to the CPI(M) state secretariat.
During the secretariat meeting held on April 19, Vijayan reportedly informed Sreemathi that no special exemption had been granted to her at the state level.
Consequently, Sreemathi did not attend the state secretariat meeting held the following day, reports stated.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)