Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 1 (IANS): Four years after the death of CPI(M) veteran Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, his son Bineesh Kodiyeri on Thursday recalled how his father had refused to allow the party to be used as a shield when he faced a series of cases, including the Enforcement Directorate investigation.
Kodiyeri, a former Politburo member, was also the state Home Minister (2006-11) and the state secretary of the CPI(M).
In an emotional post marking his father’s fourth death anniversary, Bineesh said Kodiyeri had made it clear to him that neither the party nor he himself would defend him and that he would have to prove his innocence on his own.
“The party will not answer for you. I will not answer for you either. You must answer for yourself,” Bineesh quoted his father as telling him at the beginning of the ED case.
“If the party answers for you, it will always become a weapon for our opponents to attack the party. The more you explain, the more it will become a subject of discussion. So, if you are innocent, you must prove it yourself. You will not have any support,” Bineesh recalled Kodiyeri telling him.
Bineesh said the words had acquired a deeper meaning for him with the passage of time.
He said his father had faced the allegations and attacks against him and his family without allowing the party to become a protective shield.
Even when he himself was in jail, Bineesh said, Kodiyeri had maintained that he should face the allegations himself.
The recollection comes at a time when the Enforcement Directorate investigation into the CMRL-Exalogic transactions involving Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter, Veena Vijayan, has become a major political issue in Kerala.
The ED has sought further action in the case, while Pinarayi has rejected the allegations, describing the charges as baseless.
Bineesh does not directly refer to the present controversy in his post.
But his repeated emphasis that his father never used the party to defend him offers a pointed contrast with the current political debate over how allegations involving the family of a senior CPI(M) leader are being handled.
He also recalled that Kodiyeri had told him that defending him as a party matter would only provide political ammunition to the opponents.
Bineesh said he had followed his father’s advice throughout his life. “I can proudly say that I have followed that principle to the letter,” he said.
He also recalled that when people allegedly approached his father with offers to facilitate his release from jail in return for a political compromise, Kodiyeri rejected them.
“If my son has to shake hands with you to come out of jail, then let him remain in jail for the rest of his life,” Bineesh quoted his father as saying.
For Bineesh, this remains the defining lesson of Kodiyeri’s political life that neither personal adversity nor the imprisonment of his son would make him compromise the party’s political position.
