Divisions in Kerala CPI(M) over ADB loan

The conflict in the CPI(M)'s Kerala unit over an Asian Development Bank (ADB) loan appears to be escalating with party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan countering Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's stand that he was kept in the dark about the ADB deal.

Vijayan said the matter was discussed twice in the party secretariat meeting in which Achuthanandan was present.

In a retort to the chief minister's sharp attack on his ministerial colleagues, Paloli Mohammed Kutty and Thomas Issac, Vijayan said the party was not opposed to the loan but was against harmful conditions attached to it.

He said the conditions had been removed before the proposal was cleared.

Achuthanandan had criticised his colleagues saying they would have to correct their stand on the ADB issue.