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CPM criticizes Vellappally for communal remarks

The CPM has sharply criticized SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan after he called former Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer 'the voice of the Muslim League,' accusing him of fuelling communalism. The controversy traces back to an April speech by Natesan, which the Left party had earlier failed to condemn, according to Shamseer.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 outlets · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 22, 2026 Published 2d ago

CPM hits out at Vellappally over 'Muslim League' remark

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly criticized SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan after he described former Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer as 'the voice of the Muslim League.' In a statement issued on Saturday, the CPM state secretariat accused Natesan of fuelling communalism, as reported by two Malayalam media outlets.

Natesan's remark came in response to an earlier statement by Shamseer, a CPM state committee member, who had attributed the Left's crushing defeat in the state Assembly elections to the party's failure to properly condemn Natesan over a controversial speech. According to the report in Malayala Manorama, Natesan suggested Shamseer had turned against him because he could not directly take on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and portrayed Shamseer's remarks as an attempt to shift the blame for the electoral defeat onto the chief minister.

The CPM's response was unequivocal. "Vellappally's statement branding CPM State Committee member and former Speaker A N Shamseer as 'the voice of the League' falls squarely in this category," the party said in its statement, as quoted by Malayala Manorama. The party added: "The Communist Party is dedicated to working for social change by uniting people from all sections of society. Therefore, the tendency to sow division among party leaders and workers who strive for the same objective is utterly reprehensible."

While acknowledging the significant role the SNDP has played in shaping Kerala's secular fabric, the CPM said such remarks were unacceptable from the general secretary of such an esteemed organisation. The Times of India quoted the party as saying that the organisation had upheld the teaching of Sree Narayana Guru that the essence of all religions is one.

Context: The Malappuram speech

The controversy dates back to April 5, 2025, when Natesan spoke at a convention organised by the Nilambur unit of the SNDP. According to Malayala Manorama, he said that Malappuram district functioned like a separate nation and was dominated by certain sections of the population. He also claimed that people in the district lived in fear and that some groups had united to secure their rights and representation.

Natesan later clarified that he was not against Muslims and that his remarks had been taken out of context.

The criticism of Natesan comes as the CPM grapples with its electoral setback. The party lost the Assembly elections to the UDF earlier in the year, and its National and grassroots meetings have reportedly discussed the party's proximity to Natesan, even as it often ignored his communally charged remarks, Malayala Manorama reported.

How each outlet told it

Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC

Framing: Highlights the provocative remark by quoting it directly, setting it in quotation marks, and uses 'sparks row' to emphasize the conflict. The headline does not mention the CPM's response or the electoral context. — Conflict-driven but balanced; uses neutral verbs like 'stirred' and 'sparks row' while including both the accusation and the response, and the background timeline.

Facts Included:

Vellappally Natesan, General Secretary of SNDP, made a remark on former Assembly Speaker A N. Shamseer, saying he was not a communist but a 'Muslim League man'.
Natesan's remarks came in response to Shamseer's earlier statement attributing Left's crushing defeat in the 2026 Assembly elections partly to its failure to properly condemn Vellappally over his controversial Malappuram speech.
Vellappally said Shamseer had turned against him because he could not directly take on Pinarayi.
Vellappally portrayed Shamseer's statement as an attempt to shift blame for the Left's electoral defeat onto hilari.
CPM responded sharply; statement from CPM State Secretariat said his comments were aimed at fuelling communalism.
Quote: "Vellappally's statement branding CPM State Committee member and former Speaker A N Shamseer as 'the voice of the League' falls squarely in this category."
Quote: "The Communist Party is dedicated to working for social change by uniting people from all sections of society. Therefore, the tendency to sow division among party leaders and workers who strive for the same objective is utterly reprehensible."
CPM acknowledged SNDP's significant role in shaping Kerala's secular fabric, said such remarks were unacceptable from a person holding the position of general secretary of such an esteemed organisation.
The criticism comes amid the party's defeat to the UDF in the Assembly Polls earlier in the year.
A key takeaway discussed at National and grassroots meetings was the party's proximity to Vellappally, ignoring his communally charged remarks.
The controversy dates back to April 5, 2025, when Vellappally spoke at a convention organised by the Nilambur unit of the SNDP, saying Malappuram district functioned like a separate nation and was dominated by certain sections of the population.
He said people in the district lived in fear and suggested some groups had united to secure their rights and representation, while the SNDP had lagged behind.
He later clarified he was not against Muslims and his remarks had been taken out of context.

Read the source article →

The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC

Framing: Emphasizes CPM's criticism of Vellappally for communal remarks, directly attributing the action to CPM and the nature to 'communal'. Does not mention the specific remark or the context of the electoral defeat. — Accusatory — "fuelling communalism" and producing "one that should never have come."

Facts Included:

CPM state secretariat accused SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan of fuelling communalism.
Vellappally's remark that former speaker and CPM state committee member A N Shamseer was 'the voice of the Muslim League' was aimed at stoking communalism.
Statement issued on Saturday.
Quote: 'CPM is an organisation that works for social change by mobilising people from all sections of society. It is highly condemnable to portray party functionaries and workers working towards the same goal as belonging to separate groups.'
SNDP has played a significant role in shaping Kerala's secular ethos.
The organisation worked by upholding Sree Narayana Guru's teaching that the essence of all religions is one.
Vellappally's statement was one that should never have come from a person holding the post of general secretary of such an organisation.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimCPM state secretariat accused SNDP general secretary Vellappally Natesan of fuelling communalism.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC, Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimVellappally's remark that former speaker and CPM state committee member A N Shamseer was 'the voice of the Muslim League' was aimed at stoking communalism.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC, Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimCPM state secretariat issued a statement on Saturday accusing Vellappally Natesan of fuelling communalism.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC
ClaimCPM state secretariat's statement said: 'CPM is an organisation that works for social change by mobilising people from all sections of society. It is highly condemnable to portray party functionaries and workers working towards the same goal as belonging to separate groups.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC
ClaimCPM acknowledged the significant role played by the SNDP in shaping Kerala's secular fabric.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets) via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC, The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC
ClaimSNDP worked by upholding Sree Narayana Guru's teaching that the essence of all religions is one.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC
ClaimThe CPM state secretariat said Vellappally's statement was one that should never have come from a person holding the post of general secretary of such an organisation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Times of India as of Aug 22, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC
ClaimSNDP General Secretary Vellappally Natesan said former Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer was not a communist but a 'Muslim League man'.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimVellappally's remarks came in response to Shamseer's earlier statement attributing the Left's crushing defeat in the 2026 Assembly elections partly to its failure to properly condemn Vellappally over his controversial Malappuram speech.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimVellappally said Shamseer had turned against him because he could not directly take on Pinarayi.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimVellappally portrayed Shamseer's statement as an attempt to shift the blame for the Left's electoral defeat onto Pinarayi.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimCPM responded sharply to Vellappally's remarks in a statement by the CPM State Secretariat.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimCPM's statement said: 'Vellappally's statement branding CPM State Committee member and former Speaker A N Shamseer as 'the voice of the League' falls squarely in this category.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimCPM's statement said: 'The Communist Party is dedicated to working for social change by uniting people from all sections of society. Therefore, the tendency to sow division among party leaders and workers who strive for the same objective is utterly reprehensible.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimCPM said Vellappally's remarks were unacceptable from a person holding the position of general secretary of such an esteemed organisation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe criticism comes in the wake of the party's defeat to the UDF in the Assembly Polls earlier in the year.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimOne key takeaway discussed at National and grassroots meetings was the party's proximity to Vellappally, even as it often paid no heed to his communally charged remarks.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe controversy dates back to April 5, 2025, when Vellappally, while speaking at a convention organised by the Nilambur unit of the SNDP, said that Malappuram district functioned like a separate nation and was dominated by certain sections of the population, making it difficult for others to live freely or express their opinions.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimHe said people in the district lived in fear and suggested that while some groups had united to secure their rights and representation, the SNDP had lagged behind.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC
ClaimVellappally later clarified he was not against Muslims and his remarks had been taken out of context.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Malayala Manorama as of Aug 22, 2026, 7:16 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 outlets · 2 articles consulted: Malayala Manorama, The Times of India 20 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-22