ALAPPUZHA: V S Achuthanandan turned the tables on the CPM’s official faction at the party’s ongoing state conference here on Saturday by walking out in protest against a damning indictment against him “for breaching party discipline”.
After giving an unexpected shock treatment to his opponents who had been baying for his blood for quite some time, VS also cornered the party’s central leadership.
VS refused to budge from his prime demand that the damning resolution adopted against him by the party’s state secretariat a day prior to the commencement of the conference be rejected as a precondition for his continued participation in the conference.
An emergency meeting of the available politburo that followed led to the state leadership sending feelers to VS in the afternoon. Besides, party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan talked to leaders close to VS. It is understood that he has agreed to attend the delegates’ session on Sunday.
VS left the session in the morning when he felt the sharp “offensive” against him during the discussion on the work report presented by Pinarayi was part of a “well-scripted plan”. He was snubbed all along in the conference proceedings and wasn’t even given a chance to address the inaugural session.
VS walked out after telling party general secretary Prakash Karat that “what was going on was intolerable”. Though it was made known that he would meet mediapersons by 4 pm, plans for it were shelved when backroom manoeuvrings to settle the issue took centre-stage. VS rejected the central leadership’s repeated pleas to return from his home, which was not far away from the conference venue.
The leadership was thus forced to hold a meeting of the available politburo which tasked Sitaram Yechuri, S Ramachandran Pillai and Brinda Karat with persuading VS to fall in line. A few aides to the Opposition leader were closeted with him to chalk out a course of action, while the opposite camp was frantically making moves to prevent a further flare-up.