KOCHI: CPM has painted Kochi red as it gets ready to host the three-day state conference from March 1, but the portrait of VS Achuthanandan, 98, the only founding member of the party alive, is conspicuous by absence at the streets and the main venue, though posters of all prominent past and present leaders are on display.
VS, as the former chief minister is popularly known, is now bedridden. But ignoring the only surviving member from among the 32 who walked out of the CPI National Council in 1964 to form CPM is surprising, considering that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had moved on from his bitter fight with Achuthanandan long ago. Further, Achuthanandan was made the chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission with a cabinet rank in the first Pinarayi government.
Portraits of other founding members including E M S Namboodiripad, A K Gopalan, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Jyoti Basu are prominently displayed across the streets and Marine Drive, the main venue. Other party leaders like Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, Pinarayi and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also have got a pride of place.
‘Decency demands VS portrait to be placed at CPM conference venue’
Sources said the party has chosen to put up portraits of only its politburo members and departed leaders. “One shouldn’t read too much into it. It’s just that we have decided to put up portraits and banners only of our politburo members and leaders who passed away,” a source said.
The party’s decision to ignore Achuthanandan has surprised political observers. Political analyst J Prabhash said the party might have decided to include only those leaders who have passed away or those who in the politburo in its posters, but Achuthanandan could have been an exception. “Anyway, he is incapacitated. Minimum ethics and decency demand VS portrait to be placed at the venue or the streets,” Prabhash said.