8 Dec 2008, ET Bureau
NEW DELHI: After the Kerala state unit leadership and the bureaucracy, it was the turn of the chief minister’s personal staff, both CPM state committee members, to petition against V S Achuthanandan’s administrative inadequacies.
At a meeting of the CPM state committee at Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, private secretary to the chief minister S Rajendran and VS’ political secretary K N Balagopal, came out against the functioning of the chief minister. They alleged that the actions of the chief minister are being dictated by a coterie. Some participants at the meeting went to the extent of seeking his removal from the post.
This cannot but be distressing for the central leadership, particularly general secretary Prakash Karat, for a variety of reasons. One, Mr Achuthanandan was foisted on the state unit disregarding its strident opposition from the dominant section. The state unit was against giving a party nomination to VS. The state committee gave in following pressure from the central leadership.
The civil war-like situation in the Kerala CPM comes just before the Lok Sabha polls. With the Kerala government perceived to be amassing negatives with every passing day, the latest development could mar the Left’s electoral prospects. Already, its performance track record seems to have antagonised a large section of the electorate. Even Left leaders admit that the performance of the government is areas like education, health care, infrastructure development and employment generation are far from satisfactory.
The inner strife in the party also comes at a time when the CPM is sharpening its attack against the Centre over governance issues. The functioning of the state government is certain to raise doubts about the party’s capability to provide coherent and credible governance. On its part, the central leadership has not yet shown any urgency to intervene and set things right in Kerala and is trying to play down the discord within the party in the state. At the state committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram where a majority of the members hit out at the chief minister, central representative S Ramachandran Pillai chose to remain a spectator. But senior party leaders said the polit bureau will discuss the issue once the state committee sends its report to it.
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