Kerala CPM asks VS Achuthanandan's aides to explain their roles in 'leaking' party documents to media

NEW DELHI: The CPM's Kerala state secretariat has asked three aides of party veteran VS Achuthanandan to explain their alleged roles in the leakage of party documents to the media four years ago.

Achuthanandan's press secretary K Balakrishnan, additional private secretary VK Sasidharan and personal assistant A Suresh have been asked to give an explanation within a week.

A panel of central committee members A Vijayaraghavan and Vaikkom Vishwan, who investigated the leak of CPM interim review report after 2008 state conference in Kottayam to the media, recommended action against the trio.

The state secretariat, dominated by loyalists of Achuthanandan's bete noire and state secretary, Pinarayi Vijayan, met on Tuesday and Wednesday to take the decision.

The move is being seen as a bid to send out a message to Achuthanandan that the party would not tolerate his attempts to take on the state leadership or his outspoken comments comparing Pinarayi to former CPI chairman SA Dange.

A senior polit bureau member told ET: "It is obvious that the minority will have to bow to the majority. Achuthanandan is a tall leader. But as such he does not have a following within the party. We have posed our faith in Pinarayi Vijayan to head the state unit. Everybody should respect that."

According to the CPM leader, with this decision the state secretariat has almost paved the way for the trio's suspension. A final decision would be taken by the state committee next week. It would obviously come as a jolt for Achuthanandan, who has been embarrassing the party over the TP Chandrasekharan murder case.

This is not the first time that the party is using this method to clip Achuthanandan's wings. The Pinarayi faction had managed to remove Achuthanandan's additional private secretary KM Shajahan and IT advisor Joseph C Mathew in 2009 when the octogenarian was the chief minister.