Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan has sent another letter to the central CPM leadership alleging that the dominant faction led by state party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is humiliating him in front of the party rank and file.
Mr Achuthanandan said the state leadership was misusing the regional conferences meant for reporting the 20th party Congress resolutions and explaining the party’s political and ideological lines, to target him. “Pinarayi Vijayan and other leaders made all kinds of allegations” against him at the meetings, he said.
This is Mr Achuthanandan’s second letter to the central leadership. The first one sent in June was discussed by the central leadership, but not in great detail. The matter is likely to come up for discussion again at the central committee and PB meetings later this month.
The dominant CPM faction is accused of shrewdly using the zonal meetings to virtually present a charge-sheet against Mr Achuthanandan. The meetings were attended by important functionaries from the branch to the district levels.
At these meetings, the top leaders, including Pinarayi and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, hit out at Mr Achuthanandan, saying the senior leader was making it a habit of defying the party time and again. They referred to the Kerala Yatra of Pinarayi Vijayan during which Mr Achuthanandan allegedly tried to “create confusion” by first saying he wouldn’t take part in the concluding rally, and then making a surprise appearance. Even in the SNC Lavalin case, Mr Achuthanandan tried hard to facilitate Pinarayi’s prosecution even as his Cabinet colleagues stood against it, the meetings were told.