Caught in the tussle between Kerala state CPI(M) secretary and politburo member Pinarai Vijayan and his bête noire, chief minister V S Achuthanandan, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat is reviewing various options to maintain a balance between the two camps ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
While Karat is not keen to convene a special politburo meeting as demanded by Achuthanandan to discuss the issue of corruption charges against the Kerala unit general secretary, he may revamp various block and area units of CPI(M) in Kerala to appease the chief minister.
Last year, the politburo had intervened and changed some district committees like Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam to balance the power equations between the two camps.
“We will change some of the area committees and block committees where we feel that they are heavily tilted towards one side,” said the CC member.
Another source suggested, the process has already kicked off in Thiruvananthapuram district and these changes will be followed in many other block.
Vijayan has become the first politburo member of the party to face major corruption charges after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) intended to prosecute Vijayan in the “SNC Lavalin case”. Pinarai 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.
Achuthanandan has put tremendous pressure on the party to take action against Vijayan. till date, he has not publicly endorsed party's stand of supporting Vijayan. A party insider said, even other CPI(M) politburo members from other states like West Bengal had tried to pursuade Achuthanandan to defuse the crisis, but these efforts have not gone very far.
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Vijayan had plans to start "Nav Kerala Yatra" as a campaign for the Lok Sabha polls. But the chief minister is yet to agree to inaugurate the Yatra.
Meanwhile, punitive action against Vijayan (like forcing him to step down from general secretary’s post) is ruled out. “Vijayan is an important leader for us. While he holds the key to our organization in Kerala, Achuthanandan is the face of our administration in the state. We need both Vijayan and Achuthanandan,” said a Central Committee member of the party.
To embarrass Vijayan further, Achuthanandan has been demanding that the politburo should meet to discuss the issue. Available members of politburo held a meeting in Delhi last week and issued a statement supporting Vijayan and terming the SNS lavalin case a ‘politically motivated case’.
But Achuthanandan wants a formal meeting to pin Vijayan down even as the politburo said, “the steps taken by the CBI to prosecute Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavlin case is politically motivated. Now, with the advent of the Lok Sabha polls, once again the case is being proceeded with. The use of Central investigating agencies by the ruling party for political purposes should be a matter of serious public concern. The CPI(M) will take this issue to the people and expose the political game plan behind this move.”
Achuthanandan, meanwhile has taken a moral high ground and told the party leadership that it will not be proper to keep Vijayan in his post. He flew down to Delhi last week to attend the meeting of the available politburo members to pressurize the top leadership to stop supporting Vijayan.
All eyes are now on Prakash Karat, who is seen as uncompromising on corruption. “It is the biggest crisis for the party in the recent times. It is going to be a tough test for Karat,” a politburo member said.
Karat and a host of other politburo members like S Ramachandran Pillai and Sitaram Yechuri will be in Kerala for the next few days. Although the meetings are pre-scheduled and have different agenda, party insiders expect the top leaders will have to spend time brainstorming on the crisis during their stay in Kerala.