KOZHIKODE: A young woman ayurveda doctor at Kalliassery, Kannur, has become the victim of political rivalry in the CPM-dominated area. The CPM men have allegedly prevented the smooth functioning of Dr Neetha P. Nambiar’s clinic in the town after her mother contested the last local body elections as a Congress candidate in Kalliassery panchayat. They destroyed the furniture and equipment in the clinic and disconnected the electricity. They also damaged the sign board to the clinic that she set up on the premises of her house later and turned away the patients. Though she complained to the Kannapuram police, no action was taken, it is alleged.
The doctor had started her private practice in a rented room on the first floor of the building in May 2015 and some women were running a hotel—Gramasree--on the ground floor. They had a tiff over sharing the electricity bill and the issue was taken up by the CPM, which held a public meeting at Kalliassery in June last year. Dr Neetha said that she had a good relationship with the women members of the DYFI earlier and had supported the free medical camp organised by them.
“However, when my mother Bhanumathi Vidyadharan contested as a Congress candidate in the panchayat elections, the CPM turned against me. The women running the hotel, led by DYFI leader P.P. Divya, approached the State Women’s Commission complaining against me. She also organised the public meeting against me in the town. However, their complaint was turned down for lack of evidence,” said Dr Neetha. CPM district secretary P. Jayarajan dismissed any political involvement in the matter.
“The issue between the doctor and the women was there for some time,” he said. Kannur DCC president Satheesan Pacheni said that the BJP had tried to fish in troubled waters when its state president Kummanam Rajasekharan visited the place. “The KPCC and DCC have supported the family financially, which has irked the local CPM leaders. However, the Congress will protect the interest of a family that has come out boldly to contest in a CPM-dominated area,” he said.
