The UPA-Left candidate for the post of Vice-President need not necessarily be from Congress, CPI (M) general secretary, Prakash Karat said on Tuesday.
Karat said "generally there is a consensus" on the candidate not being from the Congress. He was speaking to the press at the end of the meeting of the Central Committee (CC), the top decision making body of the party.
Karat said the candidature would have to be discussed first within the four left parties. "We have not yet thought about it. We will hold consultations with other left parties. The candidate should be suitable," Karat said, adding that the issue was not part of the CC agenda.
Karat informed the CC had endorsed the suspension of Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan from the politburo.
While the CC would review the suspension at its next meeting after two months, both leaders would continue to hold their other positions. The two were suspended from the politburo on May 26 for criticising each other publicly. Karat said that the party's organisational situation was discussed at the CC meeting. "On the issue of the suspension, the CC endorsed it," Karat said.
The action came after differences between Vijayan and Achuthanandan reached a flash point in May when the CM without naming his arch-foe in the party, accused him of leaking details of Left meetings to the media. Differences between the two leaders had become public following the recent demolitions of unauthorised constructions in Munnar.
The action came after differences between Vijayan and Achuthanandan reached a flash point in May when the CM without naming his arch-foe in the party, accused him of leaking details of Left meetings to the media. Differences between the two leaders had become public following the recent demolitions of unauthorised constructions in Munnar.
On the issue of Vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat fighting for the post of the President as an independent, Karat said it was done in an "improper manner".