It was a lull on Sunday after Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan fired salvos against the party state secretary Mr Pinarayi Vijayan, though poster campaigns support him cropped up in various parts of the state.
Party sources expect the lull to be one before the storm at the CPM state secretariat meeting on May 15. However, sources close to Mr Pinarayi say that no discussions on the VS-Pinarayi spat will be taken up till the Neyyattinkara bypoll.
On Sunday, Mr Achuthanandan held meetings with his close lieutenants and former minister S. Sarma and Citu leader K. Chandran Pillai, paying a visit to the former’s house. However, he refused to speak to the media and at a public function at Vypeen, he spoke at length about banks denying education loans.
Sources close to Mr Achuthanandan refused to divulge details of the meetings that he held with Mr Sarma and Mr Pillai, but only said that their leader had said all what to be said in the TP Chandrasekharan murder issue.
At Neyyattinkara, Mr Vijayan, who began his two-day tour, refused to be drawn to questions by the media and only said that there was no reason for worry on he being compared to SA Dange by Mr Achuthanandan.
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‘Cong behind N-E backwardness’
MANOJ ANAND
Guwahati, May 13
BJP president Nitin Gadkari here on Sunday regretted the non-development of the north-eastern states while attributing it to wrong economic policy and rampant corruption of the Congress which, he claimed, has failed to live up to expectation of the people in Assam.
Pointing out that Assam is the first state in the country where power generation has fallen over the years, Mr Gadkari told reporters, “The Congress party’s wrong economic policies and corruption are responsible for the current state of affairs in Assam and the Northeast.” Admitting that his party has not been able to perform in the last elections, Mr Gadkari, however, claimed that certain senior leaders of regional parties in Assam have expressed their willingness to join the BJP. He also informed that the BJP has prepared “vision documents” for development of Assam and the other north-eastern states.
“Our document is based on analysis of the problems and once we form the government at the Centre we will be able to change the scenario,” he said, announcing that the party has also decided to approach the NHRC and the top court to highlight the plight of Hindu migrants in Assam.