My fate lies in the hands of party, people: VS

A day before the CPM holds a crucial Politburo meet to tame infighting in its Kerala unit, state Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has said his fate was in the hands of the “party and people”.

A day before the CPM holds a crucial Politburo meet to tame infighting in its Kerala unit, state Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has said his fate was in the hands of the “party and people”.

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The CPM will hold the much-anticipated special Politburo session to address “organisational issues” in Kerala, where bickering party veterans, Chief Minister Achuthanandan and State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, have brought matters to a head.

Achuthanandan, who met reporters on Friday over a memorandum he gave to the Prime Minister on the Mullaperiyar Dam issue, refused to comment on the Politburo meet.

Asked if he would continue to shoulder his responsibilities, Achuthanandan said: “I leave it to the party and the people.” CPM chief Prakash Karat had announced the special Politburo on June 22, the last day of the central committee meet. “We must settle some of our organisational matters which could be taken up because of our preoccupation with the elections. Our Politburo meet on July 4 and 5 will specifically discuss organisational matters in Kerala,” he had said.

The CPI-M in Kerala is divided between Achuthanandan and party state secretary Vijayan, with sliding support for the hardliner chief minister. The feud in the party has been intensifying ever since Achuthanandan was first denied a seat to contest in the May 2006 Assembly polls.
Saturday’s Politburo is unlikely to see a repeat of a similar ouster since the party is strongly backing Vijayan in the SC Lavlin scam.