It was a role reversal of sorts for Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan at the CPM state plenum which got under way here on Wednesday. The last time the state committee meet was held here, in 1998, Achuthanandan, at the height of his power following his sweeping win the election, had seen to it that the CITU lobby, which he felt had engineered his defeat at the Mararikkulam Assembly seat, was decimated.
The CITU lobby, represented by CPM central committee members M M Lawrence and K N Ravindranath and the then all-India CITU vice-president V B Cherian, was defeated at the 1998 conference. At that time, CPM Politburo members Pinarayi Vijayan and M A Baby, were, ironically, in the VS camp.
Now, 15 years later, Achuthanandan hoisted the flag to mark the beginning of the party plenum at the same venue, but things could not have been more different.
The veteran leader sat alone in the town hall verandah, waiting to be called for the flag hoisting ceremony. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat did not engage in any serious talk with Achuthanandan and confined himself to wishing him and proceeding onto the stage. Only CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who was seated beside Achuthanandan, and state secretariat member A K Balan indulged in a brief tete-a tete with the Opposition Leader at the inaugural function. VS was given a chance to speak at the inaugural ceremony here before Karat. The speech was rounded off in a few minutes by Achuthanandan, who said that there was the need to strengthen the labour movements against the exploitation of monopolists.
It was also a reversal of roles for CPM state secretariat member A K Balan and former MP N N Krishnadas. At the 1998 state conference, Krishnadas, who was a state committee member, was the chief organiser and A K Balan, who was in the district committee, was the campaign manager.
Now, Balan, who is the CPM state secretariat member, is the main organiser and N N Krishnadas, who is now in the district committee, is the head of the campaign committee. Balan, in his speech at the plenum, devoted much time to explain how Pinarayi Vijayan was framed in the SNC Lavalin case by his political detractors. He said that the Vigilance and CBI cases have failed to bring out anything and from the beginning it was felt that false cases were foisted upon the leader. Referring to Achuthanandan, Balan described him in one line as the hero of the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle. He said that Palakkad was the red bastion of the state as it had elected leaders like A K Gopalan, E M S Namboodiripad, E K Nayanar and Achuthanandan. Pinarayi confidante Elamaram Kareem, who had earlier held a media briefing to explain the graft charges leveled against him in the Chakkittapara iron ore mining issue, blamed his detractors for raking up the issue.
“Gone are the days when charges would be hurled on the eve of important state committee party meets so as to set the discussion agenda,” he said, in what could be a possible hint that the ‘Achuthanandan era’ is over.
organisational report presented
Aiming at renewing the party effectively and improve the quality and character of its cadre, CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan presented the organisational report at the state plenum, which began here on Wednesday. riefing the details of the report Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said that the report was concerned about the degeneration of a section of party workers, who had fallen victims to the temptations of easy money.