The latest standoff between Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan and CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan over the alleged role of the party in the murder of T P Chandrasekharan has further vitiated the strained relations.
While the ‘tit for tat’ between the most popular leader and most powerful leader of the party in the state is being celebrated in the media as usual, it is giving more trouble to the central leadership which is cutting a sorry figure before the party cadre as well as the general public.
It was the other day that Pinarayi Vijayan took a jibe at VS during a news conference by referring to one of his characteristic remarks. VS had said that anyone who eats rice cannot believe the words of Pinarayi Vijayan that the party had no role in the TP murder. Pinarayi, apparently irked over this comment, had told mediapersons that nobody who eats good rice could believe that the party had any role in the murder. Pinarayi had reportedly questioned the claim of VS in the ‘Reporting’ he had made at different area committees at Alappuzha and Kollam districts.
It was on June 24 that the state committee meeting held here referred the matter of initiating disciplinary action against Achuthanandan to the central leadership. The central leadership had to ask the state leadership to postpone action against VS’ personal aides following pressure from VS.
With both senior leaders washing dirty linen in public, the CPM central leadership will find it tough to handle the situation. Pinarayi Vijayan has been restraining himself in his comments against VS these days.
‘’Your question is right. But I cannot give the answer,’’ Pinarayi told the news conference the other day, while replying to a query whether VS’s statement on TP murder had left the party workers confused. By the time the ‘Reporting’ is over at various districts, the stand-off is expected to be vitiated.