CPM demotes VS loyalist

Shouting down the protests from the hardliners led by Chief Minister and party Polit Bureau member VS Achuthanandan, the official group led by State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan succeeded in getting State committee member and Member of Parliament from Palakkad NN Krishnadas demoted to the Palakkad area committee.

The CPI(M) State committee meet which began here on Saturday demoted Krishnadas on charges of tapping telephone of Power Minister AK Balan during the Palakkad district conference of the party which had seen widespread group games.

The observers from the Polit Bureau, party general secretary Prakash Karat, R Umanath and S Ramachandran Pillai, who had participated in the State committee meet, had nothing much to do on the matter as the official faction led by Pinarayi was adamant about taking disciplinary action against Krishnadas, an influential leader in the Achuthanandan camp. Another prominent leader of the VS group and party’s Mundur area committee secretary TP Gokuldas was suspended from the party for a year.

Insiders said the though the VS group insisted on taking action against Balan, whose telephone was allegedly tapped by Krishnadas as it was obvious that the Minister had then taken part in divisive activities. Krishnadas, however, declined to comment on the disciplinary action.