A day after the conclusion of the 20th CPI(M) state conference, re-elected party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan indicated, though indirectly, that his arch rival, Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan, had breached organisational principles.
Mr Vijayan was replying to questions regarding Mr Achuthanandan’s comments on capital punishment made at the public meeting held on Friday. “Linking VS’s statement with conference deliberations is media interpretation. What actually Achuthanandan meant was that the UDF government should not think that by foisting false cases, including the land allotment case, they could cow down CPIM leaders. The party leaders don’t speak about conference deliberations in public. Do you think that a leader of the stature of Mr Achuthanandan is not aware of such organisational principles?” he asked.
The state secretary asked the media not to create trouble for Mr Achuthanandan by misinterpreting his words at the conference.
Mr Vijayan’s clarification notwithstanding, it is crystal clear that Mr Achuthanandan’s attack was on the leadership.
“There’s now a campaign, demanding capital punishment to V.S. Achuthanandan. Please do not try to intimidate. It simply won’t wash with us who had braved the worst torture,’’ the veteran leader said at the meeting.