Challenges remain for VS Achuthanandan, whose figure became the pivot of the dispute that had threatened to tip the balance in the upcoming Kerala Legislative Assembly elections
Jeemon Jacob, Thiruvananthapuram
Finally veteran CPI (M) Polit Bureau (PB) member, and leader of the Kerala legislative assembly opposition, VS Achuthanandan was given a party ticket to contest from Malampuzha constituency in the coming state assembly election. General Secretary Prakash Karat was brief in his press conference. “Polit Bureau met on March 21 in New Delhi and reconsidered its earlier decision in view of the opinions in the party and some confusion created in some sections of the people and decided to field VS Achuthanandan in the electoral fray. He will contest election in Kerala.” Regarding the Chief Minister’s post, he said that party will decide after the elections. In the three-phase poll on April 22, April 29 and May 3, Kerala’s 140 legislative assembly constituencies will elect the next government.
It was first time in the history CPI (M) that the PB is reversing its earlier decision regarding the candidature of PB members and yielding to the pressures of the cadres. Earlier it decided not to field both VS Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan (the party’s State Secretary) in the coming elections that sparked a series of protests within the party. Achuthanandan loyalists were hurt by the decision. And party leadership could not effectively explain to its cadres why Achuthanandan was denied a party ticket.
The 83-year-old Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan (VS) is not of the intellectual stature of EMS Namboodiripad, nor does he have the charisma of AK Gopalan or EK Nayanar. He is a man from the working class. This high-school dropout rose in the party ranks with his organisational skills and hard work. His loyalty to the party was never questioned. A disciplined party member and neo-convert environmental activist, VS was the most effective opposition leader in Kerala. His uncompromising character and never-say-die attitude posed a challenge for the party. VS openly criticised the party’s stand Kozhikode sex scandal case in which the victim made allegations against former Minister of Industries and Indian Union Muslim League General Secretary PK Kunjalikutty. The scandal was exposed when EK Nayanar was Chief Minister. The party decided to save Kunjalikuty from the case and made a bargain with him. Later, he spearheaded campaigns against illegal land encroachments in Idukki district, which became uncomfortable for the party. He did not defend Pinarayi when the Accountant General’s report on the Lavlin deal was leaked out to the press. In fact Achuthanandan used the AG's report to clip Pinarayi's wings in the party.
Despite being State Secretary in two occasions and Polit Bureau member since 1985, VS missed the big job on two occasions despite being projected as the CPI (M) chief ministerial aspirant. VS Achuthanandan pressurised the state committee to go for early election in 1991. Nayanar government had eight more months to complete the term. The party contested 65 seats and won only 29 seats. Achuthandan contested the election from Mararikulam and won the seat. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi and sympathy wave favoured Congress to come to power in Kerala. Later in 1996, Achuthanandan was defeated in Mararikkulam, a red bastion where the CPI (M) had never tasted defeat, mainly due to the infighting in CPI (M). In 2001 he won the seat in Malampuzha and became the leader of the opposition. It was unfortunate for him that when his party won the election, he lost and when he won election, his party lost.
Then onwards, the veteran leader was pinning his hopes on ruling the state as Chief Minister at least once. Being opposition leader and senior leader of the party, his claim was natural. So his loyalists were agitated when the PB took a decision not to field him this time. Protest marches, SMS campaigns and wall posters reflected the hurt sentiments of his party loyalists.
In fact Achuthanandan was pinning his hopes on the PB, the party’s supreme body to get a party ticket in the coming election despite stiff opposition from the Pinarayi camp. But Pinarayi trapped him by announcing that he was not interested in fighting elections. Instead he recommended Paloli Muhammad Kutty, a Central Committee member and former minister to lead the party in the coming election. Pinarayi loyalists alleged in the Central Committee meeting that he had alienated minorities from the party and that he was the main architect of factional feuds in the party. Despite PB’s request, Achuthanandan instigated his loyalists to contest election against party panel to the State Committee in 2005 Malappuram state meeting.
Even after fielding Achuthanandan in the electoral fray, the CPI (M) leadership struggles to explain why the party had earlier decided not to field him earlier. This situation was unprecedented. Earlier rifts in the party leadership never leaked out to the press, nor were they debated in public, and the decision of party meetings was not flashed in the media. Here, even before Prakash Karat announcing the decision, tabloid newspapers and news channels flashed the party’s decision.
The issue this time was not purely personal, though this is how the mainstream media projected it. Underlying the differences was the fact that Pinayari is seen to be market-oriented and business-friendly, which VS is not. The Polit Bureau met three times in March to resolve the infighting in Kerala leadership. But the central leadership could not do much and the exercise is on as General Secretary Prakash Karat shuttles from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram every week
State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan may not agree with the media reports that there is infighting in the party. According to him, media is behind floating fabricated stories about infighting in the party. He alleged that the media was playing an ugly game to tarnish the image of the party and create confusion among the minds of the people. “Our party is different. A section of the media is deliberately misrepresenting party affairs and misreporting the discussions taking place in the party committees,” he defended.
When the state secretariat met to discuss the candidates, the Pinarayi faction took a stand that the Polit Bureau would take appropriate decision on giving party tickets to PB members. When Pinarayi sent the back the ball to PB court, Achuthanandan factions believed that their leader will get a chance to fight election. But to their dismay, PB after day-long deliberations decided not to field PB members in the electoral fray and discus the matter in the State Committee and State Secretariat. The State Secretariat, dominated by the Pinarayi faction, agreed to the decision of PB and Achuthanandan loyalists put a fight in the State Committee for fielding VS from Malampuzha in Palakad district. They even nominated another candidate to contest election from Malampuzha.
By fielding Achuthanandan in the election, the party could pacify his loyalists, and present a more united front for its electoral rival camp the United Democratic Front (UDF). But it will not help the party to contain the infighting spreading its ranks. His first priority is to win from Malampuzha with a thumping margin and silence his political enemies.
V.S.Achuthanadan Velickakathu Shankaran Achuthanadan was born on October 20, 1923. A school drop out, he started his political career as a trade union activist.
He joined State Congress in 1939; became Member in the Communist Party in 1940; was imprisoned for five years and six months; went underground for four and half years in 1946, 1954, 1962, 1963, 1965 and 1975. He was elected as Secretary, CPI (M) State Committee from 1980 to 1992; Was Convener from 1996 to 2000; Leader of Opposition from 1992 to 1996, and again 2001-2006. He now serves as the Member of CPI (M) State Committee, State Secretariat, Central Committee and Polit Bureau.
Elected to Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1967, 1970, 1991 and 2001.
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