By Sanu George, IANS
Kottayam (Kerala) : The heart of Kottayam has turned red for the much-awaited Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Kerala conference starting Monday in the backdrop of fierce factional fights.
The four-day conference could well turn out to be a decisive one for Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan as the so-callled ‘official faction’ led by party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is breathing down his neck.
The fierce rivalry between the two has been boiling for some time. Last year, both were shown the door from the politburo in a bid to discipline them.
Despite the suspension, the factions have been engaged in a do or die battle. Vijayan easily humbled the Achuthanandan group by coming out victorious in party elections 11 of the 14 districts in the state.
He also ensured that more than two thirds of the 500 delegates attending the conference belong to his faction.
The state conference is held a few weeks prior to the CPI-M Congress, which takes place once in three years. The 19th edition of the Congress will be held in March at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
At the last state conference at Malappuram, the Vijayan faction had humbled the Achuthanandan group. Many in the party started writing the political obituary of Achuthanandan but the politburo intervened and allowed Achuthanandan to have the last laugh by becoming the chief minister.
At the last conference, the Achuthanandan faction could manage to get only some 20 members elected to the 81-member state committee.
With such little support in the committee for him, even the politburo may find it difficult to help Achutanandan if the Vijayan faction decides to go for the kill.
On Wednesday came the first signs that the ‘official faction’ is determined to humble Achuthanandan. Cooperation Minister G. Sudhakaran, who was Achuthanandan’s buddy at the last conference, said at a meeting that the time has come when mere ideology will not help.
“It has to be a mix of modern thinking and tradition that is required. Mere ideology is like a rusted bullet and will not do any job,” said Sudhakaran, in what is widely seen as an attack on the Stalinist Achuthanandan.
The Achuthanandan camp has been shrinking as shown by the outcome of the party’s district units meet ahead of the state conference. The question raging in political circles is will Achutanandan get a honourable exit or will he rise again like a phoenix as he did after the last conference?