Street protests prompt corrective action, says VSV
Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan has once again taunted the state CPI(M) leadership by saying that street protests play a crucial in helping the party correct its decisions that may have gone wrong.
His statement comes in the wake of the party reversing its earlier decision not to field him in the Assembly polls, following widespread protests. However, the CPI(M) had officially said that the protests played no role in the decision.
But a day after winning his candidacy, Mr Achuthanandan opened a new flank in his war with the official party leadership, justifying the street protests that fetched him the ticket for the Assembly elections in 2006 and 2011.
In a series of TV interviews on Saturday, the Chief Minister pointed out that people often took to the streets when they found that the party decisions were against their wishes.
“The party’s stand in situations is to take note of the public sentiment and take corrective action,” he said. “There is no need to interfere with or correct such attempts made by the people when they come out openly, either for or against the party decisions.”
Asked whether party members didn’t violate the party discipline by joining such rallies, he said the question of discipline had to be viewed in the context of whether the party decisions were anti-people or not.
Senior politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai had told this newspaper that decisions were not taken on the basis of street demonstrations at all. “The party discussed and debated his candidacy,” said Mr Pillai, adding, “street demonstrations do not have any impact on the party decisions.”
Lending another dimension to his candidacy, Mr Achuthanandan also cited the example of the late Jyoti Basu, who had contested consecutive elections, ensuring continuity for the CPI(M)-led government in West Bengal.
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