Will former chief minister of Kerala V.S. Achuthanandan be re-inducted in the CPI(M) politburo in the wake of a case of nepotism (land related) slapped by the UDF government? Speculation is rife in the CPI(M) circles on the eve of the party politburo and central committee meeting which begins in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Achuthanandan who had been the member of party politburo since the inception of the party in 1964 along with late Jyoti Basu and EMS Namboodaripad was demoted to the central committee following a serious infighting in the Kerala unit of the CPI(M).
However, Mr Achuthanandan single-handedly and heroically saved the face of the party although the LDF lost to UDF by just one seat in Kerala. The LDF was defeated, it was not disgraced like the Left Front in Bengal.
Insiders revealed, Mr Achuthanandan who has earned a larger than life image as a crusader against corruption within his party and outside, ironically got charged with a corruption case by the UDF government for allegedly violating rules to allot a plot of land to a relative during the LDF regime in 2007. This may lead the party satraps to withhold his elevation to the party apex body for the time being.
Mr Achuthanandan, however, called the entire episode a conspiracy against him by the ruling government.
He also offered to quit as Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly which was, however, rejected by the party’s top brass. Interestingly, the bigwigs of the state party remained mum over the case against him.
The vigilance and anticorruption bureau (VACB) has filed an FIR in the land denotification case against him. When asked about the case, party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan who has had no love lost with Mr Achuthanandan refused to comment.
The only top level reaction to the development came from central leader Sitaram Yechury who said that the case was politically motivated. Neither the politburo nor the central secretariat of the party has discussed the issue and it appears that Mr Yechury did not want to lose time to support his present mentor with whom he shares a good rapport.
The silence of the official camp in the state is not surprising because Mr Achuthanandan had taken a similar stand when Vijayan faced corruption charges in the SNC Lavlin.