Mammootty

Thiruvananthapuram, May 29: Kerala’s warring comrades are still at it.

The dominant faction led by CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan yesterday axed three leaders loyal to V.S. Achuthanandan while the chief minister stayed on course with his anti-encroachment drive, one of the reasons for the faction feud.

The special demolition squad today took over 250 acres of government land in the Munnar hill station from alleged encroachers, including Malayalam superstar Mammootty, valued at Rs 500 crore.

Special task force chief K. Suresh Kumar said Mammootty, his wife Sulfi and two children had 50.72 acres, once home to a cardamom plantation.

The initial survey suggests that the land, which Mammootty bought in 1999, had been given on lease and subsequently used for a different purpose.

Suresh Kumar said under the law, leasehold cardamom property could only be subleased for cardamom cultivation. But in the case of Mammootty and his family, there was purchase and transfer of ownership, which called for legal action.

The 250 acres taken over include 26 acres allegedly belonging to Idukki CPM district secretary M.M. Mani’s brother M.M. Lambodaran.

In another development, Tata Tea, which today lost a plea in the high court to stay the satellite survey of land in Munnar, submitted its contentions before the special task force against the takeover of nearly 2 acres it had allegedly encroached on both sides of the Kochi-Madurai National Highway.

Justice Balakrishnan Nair, who refused to stay the survey ordered by the state government in November 2006, said the company could approach the court if there was any violation. But Tata Tea did not have any ground to seek a stay fearing harassment, the judge observed.

He deferred the case for another three weeks for the state government to submit its affidavit.

On the political front, the faction led by Vijayan sacked three leaders in Achuthanandan’s stronghold Alappuzha yesterday. Among them is former legislator C.B.C. Warrier.

The Achuthanandan group has resolved to petition the party politburo against the unilateral decision.

Resentment in the state unit is also brewing against the politburo for suspending Vijayan from the apex committee. Local self-government minister Paloly Mohammed Kutty said the Left Front did not depend on the “political charisma of one individual” for survival.

The comment is in violation of the CPM central committee’s directive to state leaders against airing criticism in public.

It was for this violation that Achuthanandan and Vijayan were suspended from the politburo last week.