What appeared to be a nascent rebellion in the Kerala CPI(M) with eight State committee members voting against the official panel in the secretariat election and party veteran V.S. Achuthanandan lashing out at both the Central and State leaderships on Sunday has met with a serious setback with party Polit Bureau issuing a curt statement rejecting Mr. Achuthanandan’s criticisms.
Mr. Achuthanandan had shocked the party by coming out openly against State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and expressing his disappointment with new general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday. However, on Monday, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau issued a statement terming his public criticism ‘wrong and groundless’ and warning him that his statements ‘are not in the interests of the party’.
“The public criticisms made by Comrade V.S. Achuthanandan against the leadership of the party at the Central and State level, in an interview to the media, are wrong and groundless. The Polit Bureau rejects these allegations. Such public utterances of Comrade Achuthanandan are not in the interests of the party,” the statement published on the CPI(M) website said.
Strong objection
According to party sources, the statement was issued as decided by a meeting of the members of the Polit Bureau present in Delhi after the State party leadership conveyed strong objection to Mr. Achuthanandan’s public criticism and sought firm action on the issue.
The State leadership had made its intentions clear at the last meeting of the State committee that it would not brook any rebellious act. Indicating as much, it had adopted a resolution branding the voting against the official panel in the State committee meeting an act of indiscipline.
However, before the resolution was put to vote, all the eight State committee members had made it clear that they would not be cowed down by disciplinary action and would raise their voice against any action of the State leadership that they deemed arbitrary. News reports about the development had caused great embarrassment for the party.
The Polit Bureau statement is thus a warning for the rebellious State committee members as well as for Mr. Achuthanandan.
