Kerala leader's murder boasts rocks CPI(M)

CPI-M in Kerala virtually censured its Idukki District Secretary MM Mani today for his controversial speech, in which he stated that there had been instances of the party eliminating political rivals. As the party is faced with deep embarrassment over Mr Mani's utterances at a public meeting, CPI-M State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday said he had committed a "mistake" and his speech was a "deviation" from the party's political line. Mr Mani's speech had sparked a raging political row in Kerala with the Congress and BJP saying it exposed CPI-M's "politics of violence".