It is finally curtains (atleast temporarily) on one of the longest running intra-party feuds
in Kerala. For the past many months, the only news that made the front-page headlines
of most Malayalam newspapers was the rivalry between the Chief Minister (CM) of Kerala, Mr.V.S. Achuthanandan, known popularly as VS, and the Secretary of Kerala state CPI(M), Pinarayi Vijayan (PV).
Inspite of belonging to the same party - the Communist Party of India (Marxist) - they
have been rivals for many years now. At one time, PV was even an ardent follower of VS,
but then chose to make his own path, which led to crossing paths with VS. While both of
them are members of the somewhat exclusive party Central Committee (CC) and also
part of the even more exclusive Politburo (PB) which has only 15 members India-wide,
they are a study in contrast.
VS is the elder of the two & is known as a man with a clean record. Ofcourse, he is known
to make the occasional gaffe when he shoves both his feet deep in his mouth, but general
public opinion of him is good. Keralites know that he is not corrupt & I subscribe to that.
On the other hand, PV has a totally negative image. No one doubts his corrupt credentials,
which have been reinforced by the C.B.I. enquiry into the SNC-Lavalin case where he is
one of the accused and is facing prosecution for having taken a bribe from the Canadian
company SNC-Lavalin. Like any other Keralite, I am sure that he would have taken money
and that the case against him is justified.
With both these top honchos of the ruling party taking pot-shots at each other daily, what suffered was governance in the state. People were losing patience with the government &
the CPI(M) and finally they got a chance to get back at the party when the Lok Sabha
elections came around few months ago. The CPI(M) was routed out and could just manage
4 seats out of the total 20 seats in Kerala.
The Central leadership under CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat tried hard to bring
about a compromise between the 2, but failed because both stuck to their positions. At one
point, losing patience with the antics of the two, the leadership suspended both of them for
a limited period. Though that did not do much to stop their fight.
Finally, the central leadership decided that they will put this issue of infighting before the
CC and then the PB would recommend a course of action. The CC meeting was scheduled
in 2 sessions for last Saturday and Sunday, to be followed by the PB meeting where the
final decision on their fate would be taken.
Like any other Keralite, my Dad and BIL were glued to the TV from Saturday morning,
with me occasionally getting updates from them. The CC has around 75 members who recommended action against both leaders for their constant bickering and infighting,
which was damaging the image of the party. Sounded fair to me. The final decision was
left to the PB meeting next day.
Meanwhile all the Malayalam TV channels had only this issue being covered. Apart from
interviewing various leaders for their comments, they also took to the streets to know the opinion of the common man, whose opinion was clear and unanimous - "We stand by VS.
We already expressed our displeasure against his being marginalised by voting against the
party in the LS elections. If the party again takes action against VS and lets the corrupt &
tainted PV go scot-free, we will ensure a full rout of the party in the next state elections".
I was mighty impressed.
Anyone with even an iota of gray matter in his skull would know how the wind is blowing
and understand that with such an informed electorate, it is better to tread cautiously. But
given Mr.Karat's past performance where he not only bungled up the chances of the Left
parties by first pulling out of the Congress-led UPA on the Nuclear deal with the US and
then how he let PV screw the party's chances in the election by letting him bully all their
allies in the state leading to widespread resentment against the attitude of the CPI(M), it
was too much to expect.
So, on Sunday when the PB met, the 13-member PB (excluding VS and PV) were divided
10-3, with Karat & 2 Kerala leaders on one side, with the majority on the other side. The majority were against action being taken only against VS and felt that the fair thing to do
would be to penalise both. Significant to note here that Brinda Karat, w/o Prakash Karat
was in the group of 10, implying she did not see much sense in her husband's opinion.
However, like in the past, Prakash Karat bulldozes popular opinion (of both the PB and
the general public) and suggests disciplinary action against VS - removing him from the
PB, while letting PV go scot-free. While the decision itself sounded unfair and atrocious,
there was nothing surprising in the outcome, given his past decisions that have led the
party to new lows.
Common public feeling in Kerala is that PV took crores of money as bribe from Lavalin,
part of which he would have shared with other leaders and some of it also going to the
party-kitty, which would explain why almost all leaders are supporting him inspite of it appearing pretty clear that there is enough evidence of his guilt.
So, by evening, the news comes out of VS being demoted by having him removed from
the PB. They would have liked to oust him from the CM's chair too, but know that public
opinion is too much in favour of VS and that move could prove bad for them. So, the idea
is that demotion from the PB will maybe make VS resign from the CM's chair by himself,
making their job easy.
But, I am sure the wily VS has a few tricks up his sleeve, as he would have expected this
verdict from the PV-Karat group. I don't know what decision he takes, but like others in
Kerala, I hope he does not resign as CM, but continues to stay in the post. I do not want
the corrupt PV and the feather-brained Karat to have the last laugh.
Karat, PV & gang might be feeling victorious, but the game is not over yet and the next
time elections come around, they will get to hear from the people. I have at times voted
for the Communists, but not any more. Maybe Karat does not watch TV and thus has no
idea of how the people feel about the whole thing, but he should have had some inkling of
how wrong his decision is going to be, when he sees 10 of his colleagues voting against his decision.
And even if he ignores his colleagues, when his own wife sees his decision as wrong, maybe
he should have stopped to ponder. But since he did not, he will learn it the hard way - the
electorate willl teach him.
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