Kerala CM says governor not wrong, riles CPM

11 Jun 2009,

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/NEW DELHI: Differences within the CPM sharpened over Kerala governor R S Gavai's nod to CBI to prosecute party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday when chief minister V S Achuthanandan veered away from the party line to make light of Raj Bhavan's move against the CPM strongman.

"There have been other instances when governors, in keeping with their discretionary powers, have adopted a similar approach after studying the facts and circumstances," Achuthanandan told mediapersons after a weekly meet of the state Cabinet on Wednesday.

This contradicted CPM's official line that Gavai, a former Congressman, acted with bias. Achuthanandan's assertion is being seen as open defiance of the CPM's central leadership that rallied behind Vijayan, and marks the escalation of factional feud at a time when the party is in turmoil over its rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

An embarrassed party leadership refused to comment on the CM ploughing his factional furrow on an issue over which the party has locked horns with the rival Congress-led UDF as well as the Centre.

The aggravated fighting in CPM coincided with Centre getting ready to back the Kerala governor. The home ministry has prepared a note, based on a Supreme Court judgment of 2005, to endorse the governor's action in a move which will further strain Congress-Left ties.

However, Achuthanandan would not care less. Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, he also refused to back Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. The latter had on Tuesday criticised Gavai saying he had not communicated the decision to sanction Pinarayi's prosecution to the state Cabinet even though he had given it to CBI. "The governor keeping the Cabinet in the dark could lead to a constitutional deadlock," the minister warned.

Asked about the charge, Achuthanandan said, "There's no reason to talk about all that now. The governor gave it to us. That was his duty. Once entrusted, I handled it the way I was bound to. The report was placed in the Cabinet on Wednesday so that members could see and discuss it."

Congress was quick to seize the opportunity, and its state unit spokesman M M Hassan welcomed the CM's stand and said that now he must sack the home minister who had "misinterpreted" the Constitution.

Achuthanandan's comments have embarrassed the party and left it in a quandary. Certain sources say the CPM's state leadership may still persist with a strategy to keep the governor out of important events and may even put forth the demand that he be called back.