Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 25 An audio clip of a local body member of CPI-M's Kerala unit surfaced on Saturday in which she can be heard telling the MGNREGA workers in her ward to take part in the party's yatra when it arrives at their location, failing which they will not easily get next work.
The state-wide yatra led by CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan was flagged of by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday from Kasargod. It will pass through all the 140 assembly constituencies and conclude on March 18 in the state capital.
The yatra has been aimed to highlight the wrong policies of the Centre and also to warm the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Hence, the party wishes to make this a grand affair and is trying to ensure that there is maximum participation.
In the audio clip, Suchithra, a party local body member in Taliparambu in Kannur district, has asked the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) workers at her ward to see that they do make their presence in the yatra, failing which when the next round of work is allotted, things might be difficult for the absentees.
Another incident of gross misuse of power was witnessed when a state-run school bus at Perambara in Kozhikode was allegedly used to carry the members from their locality to the point from where the yatra was passing through at Kozhikode district.
Reacting to the issue at the daily press meet, Govindan on Saturday said "the CPI-M doesn't need to do all this as we are never short of participants in any of our programmes and what's being raised might just be a one-off incident."
Meanwhile, the Youth Congress has raised an official complaint against the use of the government school bus as according to the Motor Vehicles Department, the use of a government-run school bus for other needs not concerning the students is against the law.
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