CPM drops 'crusader' VS Achuthanandan, workers protest

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The poll potpourri in Kerala witnessed a stunning twist, when the CPM state secretariat decided to drop Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan from the frontlines of the poll campaign, denying him a seat in the forthcoming assembly polls.

Even before the news was officially confirmed, Achuthanandan supporters were out on the streets in different parts of the state, demanding that their leader be allowed to lead the poll campaign.

The response to the decision to drop Achuthanandan is eerily close to the developments five years ago, when the octogenarian leader who has over six decades of political background was denied a seat, which triggered state-wide protests from the rank and file of the party. The CPM then reversed its decision.

On that occasion, Achuthanandan led the party from the front, and the Left Democratic Front won 100 out of the state's 140 assembly seats. Today, it was learnt that the state secretariat of the party had chosen Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to lead the campaign. The state secretariat meeting of the party was attended by CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and Polit Bureau member S Ramachandran Pillai.

The decision is considered a huge blow to the VS camp in the party, which had been at loggerheads with the official faction identified with Pinarayi Vijayan. Political observers say the decision to drop the Chief Minister may have been taken on the assessment that a repeat of cadres hitting the roads in support of Achuthanandan, as had happened in 2006, was unlikely at this juncture.

However, those expectations if any were almost immediately belied when Achuthanandan supporters hit the streets in different parts of the state, shouting slogans in his favour. Impromptu rallies of his supporters were witnessed in various places in the state, including Thalassery, Erattupetta, Kanhangad, Neeleswaram, Pallikkara, Vechoor and Manjummal.

A final decision on the matter is expected to emerge by Friday.

Achuthanandan represents Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district. He is a four-time MLA and had personally graced the release function of the LDF poll manifesto on Monday.