VS out of politburo; Vijayan escapes

 Achuthanandan, however, will continue as chief minister, while Pinarayi Vijayan, with whom the former has been at loggerheads over the latter’s alleged involvement in the multi-crore SNC Lavalin scam, will continue as the party state secretary.

The octogenarian leader, who did not attend the meeting, even though he was in the capital, said he would accept the decision of the party leadership but would stick to his stand on the SNC Lavalin case. While announcing the decision to drop the senior-most party leader from Kerala from the politburo, the leadership mentioned about his “great contribution” to the party.

“Comrade Achuthanandan is the senior-most leader who has made a big contribution to the party in Kerala. The central committee expected comrade VS to fulfill his responsibilities as the chief minister and as a leader of the party,” a party statement said.

The CPM had called a two-day meeting of its central committee to end the bitter infighting in the party’s Kerala unit between Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan, which was responsible for the party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Rejecting the party diktat, Achuthanandan had insisted on Vijayan’s removal as state secretary after the CBI named him as one of the accused in the Rs 374-crore SNC Lavalin case.

The Vijayan faction, in retaliation, demanded disciplinary action against Achuthanandan for “violating party discipline”.

The recommendations to remove Achuthanandan were placed before the central committee on Saturday. The party also examined the report submitted by the politburo on the SNC Lavalin contract for the renovation and modernisation of three hydroelectric projects in Kerala, which were entered into by the UDF government in 1995-96.