Achuthanandan gets backing from central leaders.
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and his supporters today successfully thwarted attempts of majority of CPI(M) state unit leaders and party General Secretary Prakash Karat to dislodge the CM.
Achuthanandan has managed to drag his battle against state CPI(M) chief Pinarai Vijayan to the Central Committee (CC). After two days of its stormy meeting on the Kerala crisis, the CPI(M) politburo has decided to convene a special CC meeting on July 11 and 12 to take a call on the issue. The Central Committee is the highest executive body and the highest authority of the CPI(M) between its two all-India Party Congress.
The move came even after Karat made it clear in the politburo meeting that there should be some “disciplinary action” against Achuthanandan. This is in stark contrast to a previous politburo meeting in 2007, which had decided to suspend both Vijayan and Achuthanandan from the politburo. But today, as support for Achuthanandan swelled in the top brass of the party, Karat referred the matter to the CC for a broader discussion on the demands of the two lobbies. After the meeting, there was no press conference. However, a release said the CC would “consider the proposals of the politburo regarding the party affairs in Kerala”.
The octogenarian chief minister, on the other hand, forced the party to elaborately discuss the SNC Lavalin scam — where Vijayan is one of the prime accused and has been chargesheeted by the CBI — in the upcoming CC meet. According to insiders, Achuthanandan maintained that the Lavalin issue was never discussed threadbare in the party and there was a need to do so.
The politburo had so far maintained that the case was “politically motivated” and that the CBI was used “by the ruling party for political purposes”. But Achuthanandan never towed this party line and dubbed the case as an issue related to corruption in the internal party meetings, including this one. He has strong backing from leaders like Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, Manik Sarkar and M K Pandhe.
Vijayan was the state’s power minister when the Kerala Electricity Board signed a deal with the Canadian firm SNC Lavalin Inc for renovating three hydel projects. The probe was initiated when a CAG report earlier slammed the deal and observed that the renovation didn’t increase the output.
More From This Section
According to sources, while Vijayan stuck to his ground and asked for punitive action against Achuthanandan, citing state committee report on the 2009 poll debacle, the CM harped on elaborate discussion on the SNC Lavalin case. His supporters in the politburo also raised questions about “public perception” of not doing anything against a chargesheeted comrade.
Party insiders tell Business Standard that it is very difficult to take a call as Achuthanandan enjoys tremendous public support as “Mr Clean of Kerala” while Vijayan has sweeping control over the party unit in the CPI(M)’s southern bastion. So, among the proposals discussed today, there were suggestions to drop both of them, to retain both of them, and to drop Achuthanandan from the politburo but let him continue as the CM.