Days after a CPI(M) leader from Alappuzha quit the party and joined the BJP amidst reports of factional feuds in its conferences, another party leader on Tuesday took the same route.
Even as Madhu Mullassery announced his exit from the party in the morning, the CPI(M) expelled him from its primary membership.
Shortly thereafter, he was welcomed into the BJP by Suresh Gopi, the Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, and former central minister V Muraleedharan, as well as other party leaders.
Gopi placed a shawl in saffron party's colours around Mullassery, wished him all the best and left.
The long-time former CPI(M) leader was expelled by the Left party for acting in contravention of party principles and defaming it in the public sphere.
CPI(M) Thiruvananthapuram district secretary V Joy said it was decided to expel Mullassery as even when he was the area secretary in the party, he had shown proximity to the BJP and was in discussions with the saffron party.
"He (Mullassery) was in consensus with them (BJP) on some matters," Joy claimed.
Mullassery, a former area secretary of the CPI(M) in Mangalapuram here and a party member for 42 years, on the other hand, has blamed Joy for his exit.
"I have decided to leave a party for which I have worked for 42 years as it is difficult to work alongside the district secretary Joy," he said.
He claimed that he was mistreated by Joy, who allegedly only cares for his own interests and positions within the party and accused him of creating divisiveness in the CPI(M) at the district level.
Mullassery told a TV channel that the state leadership of both the Congress and the BJP had contacted him.
Later, BJP's Thiruvananthapuram district president V V Rajesh and other party leaders met the former CPI(M) leader at his residence ahead of his joining the saffron party.
On November 30, Bipin C Babu, member of the CPI(M) Alappuzha area committee and member of district panchayat representing Krishnapuram division, joined the BJP.
Bipin, after joining the BJP, had alleged that the CPI(M) had lost its secular character.
"A few communal forces are leading the party now and it has become an outfit of a particular section," he had said.
The sidelining of senior CPI(M) leader G Sudhakaran has also drawn criticism within the party and the local and area conferences, with some places, such as Karunagappally in Kollam district, witnessing open protests, according to party sources.
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