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CPM defers action against former CM’s aides

TRIVANDRUM - The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has averted a flare-up in the faction war in the Kerala unit of the party by deferring approval to the action proposed by the state committee against three close aides of party veteran and opposition leader V S Achuthanandan.

The state committee dominated by the official faction led by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had on December 30 decided to expel the senior leader’s Press secretary K Balakrishnan, additional private secretary V K Sasidharan and personal assistant A Suresh on the charge of leaking secret party documents to the media. The action was taken on the basis of an inquiry conducted by a two-member panel, which concluded that the three had liaised with the media with a view to project the image of their boss and demean his detractors in the party.

The decision was reported to the central committee for its endorsement.

Its two-day meeting that concluded at Kolkata on Saturday deferred the matter to the next meeting in view of the objection raised by nonagenarian leader and the sharp division in the committee.

While all the politburo members from the state, general secretary Prakash Karat and B V Raghavalu from Andhra Pradesh insisted on immediate endorsement of the action, politburo members from West Bengal, Sitaram Yachuri and K Varadarajan felt it would precipitate the factionalism in the party. They argued that the action would be construed as an action against Achuthanandan himself and felt that it would weaken the party.

The pro-Achuthanandan leaders said that the party could not afford it at a time when it is passing through a bad patch.

Achuthanandan had opposed the action in a letter to the central committee and in his meeting with Karat before its meeting.

He asserted that his aides had not done anything wrong warranting their expulsion from the party.

He alleged that the party had shown undue haste in initiating the proceedings against the three while it was still sitting over the central committee decision to conduct an internal inquiry into the alleged involvement of party workers in the murder of party rebel leader T P Chandrashekharan.

Achuthanandan had also warned the party that he would find it difficult to continue as leader of opposition if action was taken against his aides. This is not the first time that the central leadership is coming to Achuthanandan’s rescue.

He was given ticket to contest the Assembly election twice at the intervention of the central leadership.

The central committee had also thwarted a move by his detractors in Kerala to remove him from the present position.

However, his supporters from outside Kerala have not been helpful in restoring his position in the politburo, from which he was removed twice on the ground of party discipline.

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