Chennai: Defending disciplinary action
against Tamil Nadu unit leader W R Varadarajan, who allegedly
committed suicide after being stripped of party posts, CPI-M
General Secretary Prakash Karat today said it was taken based
on a complaint of sexual harassment by a woman against him.
Amid criticism that the party was harsh on Varadarajan,
Karat flayed attempts to portray the disciplinary action as
"hounding to death" of a party leader, saying it was not only
baseless but an attempt to use the tragic event to malign the
party and its leadership.
64-year old Varadrarajan, a front ranking state leader,
went missing soon after the disciplinary action against him,
including his removal from the Central Committee, earlier this
month. His highly decomposed body was recovered from a lake on
the city outskirts last week.
Varadarajan, was given full opportunity to defend himself
in the party fora, Karat said in a statement here.
"The Tamil Nadu state committee received a complaint from
a woman against Vararadarajan of alleged sexual harassment in
September 2009. As per the procedure in the party, the state
committee decided to set up a three-member committee to
inquire the matter," Karat said.
Subsequently, the committee placed a report before the
state committee for consideration on November 25 and the
party's secretariat recommended action against Varadarajan,
who was also given opportunity to explain himself before the
state committee, Karat said.
-PTI
First Published: Friday, February 26, 2010, 00:47