CPI(M) Polit Bureau meets ahead of CC meeting

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau met here today ahead of the crucial Central Committee meeting which will try to find an end to the "disunity" in its Kerala unit where its top state leaders V S Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan are on a war path.     

The PB meeting was attended by party General Secretary Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, M K Pandhe, Brinda Karat, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, S Ramachandran Pillai, Manick Sarkar and Biman Bose among others.     

"The meeting of the Polit Bureau comes ahead of the Central Committee meeting. This meeting will discuss the agenda of the Central Committee meeting," a senior party leader said.     

Battling serious infighting in its Kerala unit, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau last week was understood to have taken a decision to discipline Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and his detractor Pinarayi Vijayan.     

The PB had then decided to forward the "proposals" which it finalised during the meeting to the Central Committee.     

Last week's meeting saw intense and heated discussions and among the proposals was action against the Chief Minister whose statements the Central Committee said had helped Congress during elections. Vijayan is also expected to face some action.

There were reportedly arguments within the Polit Bureau over action against Vijayan, against whom prosecution is pending in SNC Lavalin graft case. At least three Polit Bureau members are understood to have opposed the view that Vijayan should be let off.

The problem in Kerala has become far more complex after the CPI(M)'s drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls even as it is groping for answers for its dismal performance.  

Vijayan, figuring as an accused in the SNC Lavalin graft case when he was electricity minister 11 years ago and CBI naming him in its chargesheet could not have come at a worse time.  

Adding fuel to the factional fire, the Vijayan faction is incensed at Achutanandan and his loyalists for defying the party line to defend the beleaguered leader in the graft case and that too during the Lok Sabha polls.  

The Achuthanandan camp feels that the rival group will not have its way since a number of Central Committee members are from outside the state and would have no stake in the Kerala party affairs.