The reports that senior IPS officer MR Ajith Kumar admitted to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) that his meeting with a senior RSS leader was "personal" have further fueled controversy. The revelation prompted sharp reactions from both the ruling party ally, the Communist Party of India (CPI), and the opposition Congress on Saturday.
According to the media, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Ajith Kumar, a close associate of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, informed the CMO that his meeting with RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale in Thrissur last May was of a personal nature, as reported by On Manorama. However, a CMO source noted there was "no clear information" regarding the ADGP's statement.
The controversy intensified after the ruling CPI(M) dismissed the opposition Congress' claims that Kumar acted as a "middleman" between the Chief Minister and the RSS to disrupt the Thrissur Pooram festival to favor the BJP candidate in the Lok Sabha elections. CPI(M) labeled these allegations as "baseless and nonsensical."
However, the CPI, a key coalition partner in the Left Democratic Front (LDF), expressed strong disapproval of the reported meeting, suggesting it could create public mistrust. CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam raised concerns about what kind of knowledge the ADGP, responsible for law and order, might have shared with the leaders of Vijnana Bharathi, an RSS-affiliated group, during the meeting, as reported by PTI.
Viswam emphasised that the LDF and the RSS have no shared political or ideological ground and called for transparency about the alleged "secret meeting."
Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan also criticized the ADGP’s justification, questioning the nature of the "personal visit." He argued that the RSS, being adversarial to both the LDF and the UDF, made it improper for an IPS officer under the Chief Minister’s supervision to meet with its national leader without prior notification to the Chief Minister or the Director General of Police (DGP), as per the report.
Muraleedharan reiterated his belief that the meeting was connected to the Thrissur Pooram in April and demanded a judicial inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, the ruling CPI(M) remained cautious in responding to the ADGP's reported clarification to the CMO. CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govindan questioned why the party should answer for an officer's private engagement, asserting that the meeting had no relevance to the party.