VS resumes war against foes

After lying low for almost 10 months since his expulsion from the CPI(M) Politburo, following his battle against Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s octogenarian Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan is gearing up for yet another war against the same foes in the party – the neo-liberalist faction in the party headed by Pinarayi. This time he hopes that the party would not be able to quell his rebellion easily as they had in the past because two elections are to take place within a year.

Observers see his act of suspending senior IPS official Tomin J Thachankery, known to be close to Pinarayi, and State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and their associates in the neo-liberalist lobby, for going to the Gulf without his knowledge as part of this war. He had chosen to do this despite the arguments of top police brass that unauthorised foreign travel by all-India service officials was not a crime that called for suspension knowing that it would put his enemies in the party in a difficult position, a source close to him said.

In a sense, Achuthanandan has already won the first round of this war after Kodiyeri admitted his political fatigue by claiming that Achuthanandan had done this with his knowledge, while sources in his own Home Department vouch that the Chief Minister had taken the action against Thachankery on his own. “With that claim, the Home Minister was trying to send out a message that he was not prepared for a war at this juncture. Otherwise, the neo-liberalists would not have remained calm in such a situation,” said a VS loyalist.

However, Kodiyeri knows that Achuthanandan’s objective in suspending Thachankery was to drag Pinarayi — rather than the Home Minister — into a new battle. The controversy over which Thachankery attracted suspension had started with reports that he was seen ‘escorting’ a CPI(M) team headed by Pinarayi in the Gulf. Pinarayi and company are on a fund-raising tour of Arabia.

“Achuthanandan knows that Pinarayi would be compelled to confine a war over this issue to the four walls of the State party headquarters, as the controversy was of a serious nature involving him also. If Pinarayi is seen defending Thachankery in the public he would suffer a loss of face as already there are allegations that he has been protecting the police official all the way,” said a State committee member of the party, who claims to be impartial in the group war.

However, neo-liberalists are sure to bring up the issue of Thachankery’s suspension at the CPI(M) secretariat meeting to be held on April 27 — Pinarayi and team are coming back from the Gulf on April 25. There are people in the Pinarayi camp who argue that Achuthanandan should not be allowed to continue as Chief Minister in the fifth year of the LDF rule (the fourth anniversary of the Government is on May 18) but implementing this will not be easy as they do not have a convincing reason to make move against the senior-most secretariat member.

Meanwhile, Achuthanandan is banking on the vacuum the party is experiencing as far as a mascot for the campaigns for the two elections are concerned for his fight against the neo-liberalists. “He thinks that it is not easy for Pinarayi to move against him at this juncture as there is virtually nobody to lead the party for the coming two elections. If Pinarayi chooses to lead the Left in the polls it would bring a disaster as it had done in the last Lok Sabha election,” said the State committee member. VS resumes war against foes

VR Jayaraj | Kochi

After lying low for almost 10 months since his expulsion from the CPI(M) Politburo, following his battle against Kerala secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s octogenarian Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan is gearing up for yet another war against the same foes in the party – the neo-liberalist faction in the party headed by Pinarayi. This time he hopes that the party would not be able to quell his rebellion easily as they had in the past because two elections are to take place within a year.

Observers see his act of suspending senior IPS official Tomin J Thachankery, known to be close to Pinarayi, and State Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and their associates in the neo-liberalist lobby, for going to the Gulf without his knowledge as part of this war. He had chosen to do this despite the arguments of top police brass that unauthorised foreign travel by all-India service officials was not a crime that called for suspension knowing that it would put his enemies in the party in a difficult position, a source close to him said.

In a sense, Achuthanandan has already won the first round of this war after Kodiyeri admitted his political fatigue by claiming that Achuthanandan had done this with his knowledge, while sources in his own Home Department vouch that the Chief Minister had taken the action against Thachankery on his own. “With that claim, the Home Minister was trying to send out a message that he was not prepared for a war at this juncture. Otherwise, the neo-liberalists would not have remained calm in such a situation,” said a VS loyalist.

However, Kodiyeri knows that Achuthanandan’s objective in suspending Thachankery was to drag Pinarayi — rather than the Home Minister — into a new battle. The controversy over which Thachankery attracted suspension had started with reports that he was seen ‘escorting’ a CPI(M) team headed by Pinarayi in the Gulf. Pinarayi and company are on a fund-raising tour of Arabia.

“Achuthanandan knows that Pinarayi would be compelled to confine a war over this issue to the four walls of the State party headquarters, as the controversy was of a serious nature involving him also. If Pinarayi is seen defending Thachankery in the public he would suffer a loss of face as already there are allegations that he has been protecting the police official all the way,” said a State committee member of the party, who claims to be impartial in the group war.

However, neo-liberalists are sure to bring up the issue of Thachankery’s suspension at the CPI(M) secretariat meeting to be held on April 27 — Pinarayi and team are coming back from the Gulf on April 25. There are people in the Pinarayi camp who argue that Achuthanandan should not be allowed to continue as Chief Minister in the fifth year of the LDF rule (the fourth anniversary of the Government is on May 18) but implementing this will not be easy as they do not have a convincing reason to make move against the senior-most secretariat member.

Meanwhile, Achuthanandan is banking on the vacuum the party is experiencing as far as a mascot for the campaigns for the two elections are concerned for his fight against the neo-liberalists. “He thinks that it is not easy for Pinarayi to move against him at this juncture as there is virtually nobody to lead the party for the coming two elections. If Pinarayi chooses to lead the Left in the polls it would bring a disaster as it had done in the last Lok Sabha election,” said the State committee member.

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