The district council of the Communist Party of India (CPI) has taken disciplinary action against former Idukki district secretary of the party K.K. Sivaraman, removing him from both the district executive and the district council.

According to party leaders, the decision follows Mr. Sivaraman’s open criticism of the party regarding its recent election debacle in the Peerumade Assembly constituency.

CPI district secretary K. Salimkumar said Mr. Sivaraman would only be allowed to continue as a local party member. “The party council even demanded his complete exclusion from party membership,” Mr. Salimkumar said. “His public statements have caused serious trouble for the party. Instead of airing his grievances internally, Mr. Sivaraman chose to make them public,” he said.

In the recent election, Mr. Salimkumar who was the candidate in Peerumade lost by a record margin of 27,634 votes to United Democratic Front Cyriac Thomas. Party leaders noted that this is the largest margin of defeat a CPI candidate has suffered in Peerumade since the constituency was formed.

The CPI had held the Peerumade Assembly seat for the past 20 years. E.S. Bijimol represented the constituency from 2006 to 2021, followed by Vazhoor Soman.