Kerala   

CPI(M) Polit Bureau begins discussion

NEW DELHI: Having dealt with the problems in the party in West Bengal, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), on Saturday, turned its undivided attention to the troubles in the Kerala unit where Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan have differences.

The party Polit Bureau will hold discussions till Sunday, when it is expected to make a formal statement. After the Central Committee meeting in June, the party decided to hold the Polit Bureau meeting with spotlight on internal problems in the State unit.

A few years ago, Mr. Vijayan and Mr. Achuthanandan were suspended from the Polit Bureau for airing their differences in public.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and Polit Bureau members, including S. Ramachandran Pillai and Biman Bose, besides Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan, are attending the meeting.

“We are meeting for two days. I cannot predict the outcome of the meeting,” M.K. Pandhe, Polit Bureau member, told presspersons when asked if the party planned to take action against the leaders in Kerala. He said all issues in regard to the State unit, including the SNC-Lavalin graft case in which Mr. Vijayan is facing prosecution, would come up for discussion.

In its report after the June meeting, the Central Committee noted that disunity in the Left Democratic Front was one of the factors for the party’s poor showing in the State in the Lok Sabha elections. It noted that statements of Mr. Achuthanandan during the campaign had an adverse effect and helped the Opposition. “The public controversies that erupted in the LDF just on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections conveyed an impression in the minds of the people that the LDF was disunited and [its constituents were] fighting each other,” the report noted.

Stating that the party failed to assess the magnitude of the setback till the counting day, the report stressed the need to identify why such a wrong estimation was made. “It should be examined whether factionalism has adversely affected the organisational work in certain areas,” it said.

The Central Committee said there were instances of alien trends among some party members that violated Communist norms and this aspect was a special focus of discussion at the Polit Bureau meeting.

This is the second time in the past five years that the Polit Bureau is meeting to discuss Kerala issues. The first such meeting was held in Kolkata in 2005.

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