The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPM] and the Congress party in Kerala have long maintained a complementary relationship, with an alliance that seems inseparable despite apparent ideological differences. Their backdoor political dealings often stay hidden, occasionally surfacing like the tip of an iceberg. A fresh controversy has now emerged, linking both parties to a land encroachment row involving the AKG Centre, the former headquarters of the CPM, allegedly built on land belonging to Kerala University.
A Right to Information (RTI) reply from the Revenue Department reveals that the AKG Centre stands on land owned by Kerala University, allegedly encroached or unofficially handed over during the Congress regime in 1977. However, no official documentation of the transfer exists. This ambiguity, ywhether it was unauthorised occupation by the CPM or a discreet political favour by the Congress, has triggered widespread protests led by university students under the ‘Save University Campaign’.
The RTI revelation states that AKG Centre which housed the CPM’s state committee offices until recently, is located on revenue land (Purambokke) in Vanchiyoor Village, Thiruvananthapuram. Since it is categorised as government revenue land, the department does not collect land tax. The issue has attracted the attention of Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar, who has reportedly requested a report from Kerala University Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummel regarding the alleged encroachment. In response, Dr Kunnummel has tasked Dr Mini Kappan, the Registrar-in-Charge of the university, with conducting an enquiry and submitting a detailed report.
The AKG Centre, named after legendary CPM leader A.K. Gopalan, came under public scrutiny following a memorandum submitted to the Governor by the Save University Campaign Committee. The committee demanded urgent measures to reclaim the land, which is still officially recorded as 55 cents of revenue land adjacent to the university’s Senate campus.
Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummel is expected to present the encroachment issue during the university’s next Syndicate meeting and submit his report to the Governor. Once the report is submitted, follow-up actions are likely to be initiated.
The former CPM headquarters has now been repurposed as the AKG Studies and Research Centre, which is slated to host the International Congress on Kerala Studies. In recent years, the CPM has also constructed a new nine-storey, solar-powered building adjacent to the old AKG Centre. Spanning over 60,000 square feet, the facility includes offices for the State Committee, halls for press briefings, workspaces for Polit Bureau and Central Committee members, a studio, and two levels of underground parking.
However, the District Collectorate, Taluk Office, and Village Office possess no documentation confirming the 1977 land allotment, which has resulted in the local village office refusing to collect land tax from the AKG Centre. Furthermore, reports suggest that there is no “Thandaper”, an official land revenue or ownership record in Kerala, associated with the property.
Despite the lack of land records, the AKG Centre managed to obtain a municipal door number from the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation and currently pays an annual property tax of Rs 10.33 lakh to the Corporation.
The history behind the land allotment makes for an intriguing case study. In 1977, then-Chief Minister and senior Congress leader A.K. Antony approved the allocation of 15 cents of land to the CPM. Subsequently, the Kerala University Syndicate agreed to grant another 15 cents. However, the related files later went missing from the Secretariat’s Revenue Department. An investigation was launched following a complaint from the State Archives Director, but the documents could not be traced. It is widely alleged that the files “vanished into thin air” during the CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government.
According to the Save University Campaign Committee, the entire 55 cents of land occupied by the AKG Centre originally belonged to Kerala University. Although both A.K. Antony and the university Syndicate had agreed to allot 15 cents each, the CPM allegedly failed to secure legal ownership and instead proceeded to encroach further on university land.
R.S. Sasikumar, chairman of the Save University Campaign Committee, stated that if the Governor does not act to reclaim the land from the AKG Centre, the committee will initiate legal proceedings.
Notably, Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummel met with the Governor on July 31 to brief him on the latest developments in the university’s investigation.
The issue of land allotment to the CPM for constructing party buildings has persisted as a lingering controversy in Kerala since 1977. Many now believe that the matter has reached a point of no return.
