CPM on the boil over VS removal
A section of CPI(M) leaders in Delhi are upset over the party state secretariat's decision to drop Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan from contesting in the Kerala assembly polls.
A senior party functionary fuming at the decision accused the party general secretary, Prakash Karat of indulging in "politics of vendetta." Mr Karat had been opposing the nomination of the 87-year-old chief minister, who had gone against the party line by targeting the tainted state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. The party is likely to be led by Home Minister Kodiyeri
Balakrishnan, a Politburo member who is believed to be close to Vijayan.
Mr Karat has maintained a stoic silence over Mr Achuthanandan's candidature in the Kerala assembly polls even as he had gone ahead with supporting West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee as the Chief ministerial candidate for the Left Front in the forthcoming assembly elections in Bengal.
A party leader said that Mr Achuthanandan continues to remain the most popular leader in the state. "He has been a symbol for fighting against corruption and clean governance", the functionary said. Addressing a press conference earlier this month, Mr Karat announced that Mr Bhattacharjee would lead the poll battle in West Bengal but refused to back Achuthanandan saying that the state unit would take a decision.
In the 2006 Assembly elections, Achuthanandan was denied a ticket but was later fielded, following a public outcry. He then won from Malampuzha segment in Palakkad district with a comfortable majority. The Kerala chief minister, while attending recently held central committee meet in New Delhi had made it clear that he would be “contesting again if the party so decided.” A final decision will be taken in the ongoing State Committee at Thiruvananthapuram. Mr Achuthanandan’s candidature is believed to have been struck down following pressure from Vijayan faction.
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