: Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has yet again ruffled feathers in the CPI(M) leadership by participating in a function against which the district unit had issued a directive.
The function was organised by the Deshabhimani self-help society on Sunday to hand over the keys to a house built for the family of a cancer victim at Mannar. The society was formed by party members representing the Mannar West local area committee. With Mr. Achuthanandan being invited to inaugurate the ceremony, the CPI(M) district leadership led by secretary Saji Cheriyan and secretariat members M. Surendran, T.K. Devakumar and A. Raghavan called a meeting of the local area committee on Saturday and issued a directive to call off the function. While a section of the committee adopted a favourable stance towards the directive, another group led by society president Muhammed Aji remained firm on their decision to conduct the programme. They also protested against the alleged attempt to link the function with factionalism within the party, according to sources.
The function was held as scheduled on Sunday in the presence of a large audience.
