V.D. Satheesan. File
| Photo Credit: ANI
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition on Sunday (August 17, 2025) sought to politically weaponise the media leak of a purported “confidential complaint” to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] polit bureau, reportedly accusing an assemblage of party leaders from Kerala, including former Ministers, of partnering in financial shenanigans allegedly enabled by a U.K.-based business person from the State.
Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, who demanded a clarification from the party and government on the veracity of the accusation, pointed out that the controversial letter, which grabbed headlines in Kerala, was adduced as evidence in a libel suit in New Delhi involving two business persons with apparent CPI(M) connections.
He said the crux of the litigation appeared to be bitter feuding between two business rivals for the patronage of powerful CPI(M) leaders. “Financial transactions gone awry might also have fuelled the disagreement, which has put the CPI(M) on the defensive in Kerala,” he added.
Mr. Satheesan noted that the U.K.-based businessperson was an invitee to the CPI(M)’s 24th party conference in Madurai in April 2025 and a member of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government-sponsored Kerala Loka Sabha.
Mr. Satheesan said the NRI’s rival objected to the businessperson’s presence at the conference and later submitted a lengthy letter loaded with accusations of financial fraud, including possible FEMA violations allegedly involving CPI(M) leaders in Kerala.
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Mr. Satheesan said the serious imputations in the letter, if true, prima facie warranted investigation under the provisions of the anti-money laundering law.
“For one, the accuser alleged in the letter that the previous LDF government routed major projects to a paper company floated by the NRI businessperson in Chennai. Is this a classic case of reverse hawala?” he said.
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“I am not taking names at this juncture. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan owed the public an explanation. It’s also mystifying how the confidential letter to the CPI(M) polit bureau ended in the possession of an NRI businessperson to adduce as evidence in court. It seems the letter’s leak has brought to the fore the hidden but deeply entrenched fissures in the CPI(M) leadership in Kerala,” he stated.
The CPI(M) was yet to react to Mr. Satheesan’s accusations. Attempts to seek a comment about Mr. Satheesan’s allegations from a few leaders were yet to yield a response.
Published – August 17, 2025 03:31 pm IST
