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| Karat heads for Kerala to umpire party chasm |
| Saubhadro Chatterji / New Delhi Aug 13, 2009, 00:59 IST |
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After the strong organisational measure to contain infighting in its Kerala unit, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership is now taking up the second daunting task — to set governance in order in Kerala.
There will be a special three-day meeting on this issue in Kerala, starting this Sunday. General Secretary Prakash Karat will himself supervise it, where another round of fireworks between Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and the loyalists of his bête noire, state party head Pinarayi Vijayan, is expected.
Politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai will accompany Karat to the meet. To exhibit a unified face of the party, a grand public rally has also been planned on August 19.
The party is expected to make a fresh guideline for VS on how to run the government.
After the humiliating defeat of the CPI(M) in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party’s Central Committee came to the conclusion that apart from national issues like the Third Front initiative, local problems also played a major role in the party’s debacle. As with West Bengal, the Kerala unit was also told to take corrective steps in both organisation and government.
As many as seven of the 10 cabinet ministers in Kerala (excluding the CM) have already revolted against VS. These ministers, all belonging to the Vijayan camp, have conveyed that they do not wish to work under VS. Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and Education Minister M A Baby had openly demanded VS’ removal from the CM’s chair in party meetings.
Only three cabinet ministers — M Vijayakumar (law), S Sarma (Fisheries) and PK Gurudasan (Labour) — have not revolted against the CM so far.
Summing up the bitterness in the cabinet, a senior leader of the politburo told Business Standard, “Matters have reached to such an extent that VS doesn’t send important files to other ministers and Pinarayi loyalist ministers, too, don’t bother to consult the chief minister on most of the issues.”
On several issues during the past few years, the rift between the two groups has come out in the open. The two fought over the proposed joint venture between Dubai-based Smart City and the Kerala government for an Info Park in Kochi. Before that, sparks flew openly between the two gactions over demolitions in Munnar.
Despite opposition from the Vijayan faction and even coalition partners, Achuthanandan famously remarked, “It does not matter if the cat is black or white. My men catch even the smallest mice.”
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