How V S Achuthanandan was made to make way for party choice Vijayan

Achutanandan was the face of CPI(M) during recent campaigning but Vijayan was chosen over him for CM post

It was a “unanimous decision” by the state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that put Pinarayi Vijayan in the Chief Minister’s chair in Kerala. While 93-year-old mass leader V S Achuthanandan was relegated to the role of "Fidel Castro, who will continue to guide and inspire the party”.

Party chief Sitaram Yechury, present during the meetings at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, announced this at a press meet with a dejected-looking Achuthanandan beside him. Emerging out of the CPM State Committee meet in the afternoon, Yechury ascribed the decision taken to the “age and physical limitations” of the nonagenarian. When questioned by the media as to how Achuthanandan’s health was not a consideration when he was chosen to lead the election campaign and also contest polls, Yechury’s answer was, “I am not going to get into the details of this.”

VS sat silent through the press conference, with the look on his face conveying his disappointment. At a meeting at the AKG Centre this morning, where politburo member Prakash Karat was also present, the decision was taken to name Vijayan as the CM-nominee of the Left Democratic Front. News agencies alleged Achuthanandan had walked out of the meeting. Sources said as the senior was not a member of the committee, he was summoned and the unanimous decision conveyed, after which he left.  

Subsequently, Achutanandan was present at the second meeting in the afternoon and the ensuing press conference. That the party decision had left him crestfallen was clear, considering what he had told reporters two days ago, “If the party wants me to take up responsibility, I will not shy away.”

Achuthanandan was eager for the CM berth again (he had the charge in 2006-2011) and according to some had staked his claim for it but the party secretariat had taken its decision even before it met this morning, if reports are to be believed.  

That the CPI(M) would not have succeeded in securing the 91 seats it managed to win without the leadership and face of “VS” is well known. No wonder then that Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah had thrown an open challenge to the CPI(M) to name its CM-candidate before the elections. He claimed that the party was using VS as the face of the campaign to make Pinarayi, not a mass leader, the CM.

Those in the know of things allege Yechury, who has been backing Achuthanandan’s candidature all along, himself would have been on a sticky wicket after the partys debacle in West Bengal and his position considerably weakened.

Although Yechury stated that Achuthanandan was 'Fidel Castro' and would continue to guide and inspire the party, there is apprehension that with the elevation of “strongman” Vijayan, the party’s “cell rule” culture will dominate the state. Achuthanandan is popular and with an image of a relentless crusader. Not only was he  the star campaigner for the Left but his principled position against corruption made it a foil to the scam-tainted Congress-led UDF.