Bangalore: A Malayalam writer has fanned the flames lit by a Congress MLA's allegation that revered Marxist A.K. Gopalan had romanced a minor before marrying her, claiming that old-time communist leaders did have underground love affairs and were not strangers to depravity.

Author Civic Chandran, a former Naxalite sympathiser, has rushed to the aid of legislator V.T. Balram, whose remark has invited online abuse and threats from CPM supporters, stoning of his office and disapproval from his own party leadership.

C.V. Kuttan Chandran - nicknamed "Civic" because of his initials - has in a Facebook post questioned the attacks by admirers of Gopalan, known as "AKG".

Balram, 39, had cited AKG's autobiography to highlight how the then married, middle-aged communist had had a "love affair" with a 10 or 11-year-old girl, Susheela, while hiding at her family's home in the 1940s before marrying her in 1952, when she was 22.

The early communist leaders' underground relationships during a ban on their party in the 1940s are part of Left lore in Kerala. But Balram had described AKG's relationship with a Malayalam word that can mean child torture or paedophilia.

Chandran, 68, wrote: "The underground life of our comrades is not a holy book as there were several instances of sexual anarchy, extra-marital affairs and unnatural sex."

He raised a point that several Congress politicians too have made while disowning Balram's comments - that Kerala's communists regularly abuse Congress icons.

"They can come up with any nonsense about leaders from (former Congress chief minister) Oommen Chandy to M.K. Gandhi and can spread any accusations of sexual misconduct, but nobody should utter a word about them," Chandran wrote.

He added that whatever AKG may have done in his private life cannot belittle his contributions as a great leader.

"Besides the historic romance with Jenny (Marx), even (Karl) Marx had a not-so-holy relationship with a maid. But that doesn't negate Das Capital," he wrote.

Chandran, who calls himself a post-Marxist, has history with the CPM. In the 1980s, the party was accused of hounding cultural activists who tried to stage Chandran's play Whom Did You Make A Communist? - a counter to the communists' legendry theatre production You Made Me A Communist that had taken Kerala by storm in the 1940s, heralding the state's Left movement.

Chandran's Facebook page has been blocked since Monday, for which the writer blames "CPM cyber warriors". He, however, said that several of his friends had re-posted his comments, and that he had received abusive calls.

While speaking to The Telegraph on Tuesday, Chandran made a "revelation" about AKG.

"AKG was the original Maoist of Kerala. Scared that his shift to the radical group might damage the prospects of the communist party, E.M.S. Namboodiripad (the first communist chief minister) asked Susheela to dissuade him from moving far-Left," he said.

"It's said that EMS got the love letters (that AKG had written to a minor Susheela) from her and used them to keep AKG under check," he added, claiming that the letters were still locked up in a library in Left citadel Kannur.

Chandran, however, added the disclaimer that no written source for such information exists. "These are my own statements," he said.

CPM leader C.P. Damodaran queried the claim: "It's just like what that MLA (Balram) is saying. Who can't come up with such stories?"

Chandran said: "We are all normal humans with fallibilities; so I don't understand why the communists are making such a big noise about Balram writing something that's known to most old-timers."

He said the Left was as intolerant of criticism as the Sangh parivar. "(They believe) they can say whatever they want about Gandhi, Nehru or anyone, but no one should make a single remark against their leaders."

The ruling Left has started a social boycott of Balram's events in his constituency, and his effigies are being burnt. "They are deluded if they think I can be silenced," Balram said on Tuesday.

State Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Chandy and M.M. Hassan have made it clear they do not approve of derogatory comments against revered leaders.