Comrade VS, please walk the talk

ALAPPUZHA: Protesting against the way he has been singled out for criticism in the party’s Working Report and by the majority of delegates from various districts, CPM politburo member VS Achuthanandan walked out of the state conference here early on Saturday, an incident that drew the wrong kind of attention to the party’s triennial milestone event.
Though ‘track II’ efforts are on, reportedly at the behest of the party’s central leadership, to placate the veteran and get him to attend the conference on Sunday, the official faction led by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is happy to see his back for good and is adamant that it will have no truck with the diffident leader.
However, after state committee members S Sharma and Chandran Pillai met him at his home late on Saturday, indications are that VS may relent and attend the conference at least to uphold the pretence of a united leadership.
VS, who promptly reached the state conference venue at Kalarkode by 9.30 am on Saturday left the venue when the meeting dispersed for tea break at 11.15 am. Though he was at his residence at Paravoor near the venue, for the rest of the day he didn’t bother to attend the conference. VS also threatened to boycott the remaining sessions prompting intervention by the party’s central leadership.
Sources said VS left the venue after the first five speakers of the day went on to criticize him harshly based on the remarks in the Working Report presented by Pinarayi on Friday. Out of 40 speakers on the second day, 39 were critical of VS’s acts and some demanded his expulsion from the party. Only P Krishnaprasad from Wayanad refrained from criticizing VS, sources said.
On Saturday morning, prior to the conference, VS had a closed-door discussion with CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and it is reliably learnt that he demanded public withdrawal of the resolution passed by the CPM state secretariat on Thursday condemning him. But Karat didn’t give any assurance and told VS that he needed to discuss with his politburo colleagues before taking a decision. It is also learnt that VS offered to quit as the opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly to which Karat said no.
The CPM state leadership has raised the walkout issue as yet another breach of discipline by the loner and has reportedly demanded strong action against him. “This is a Marxist-Leninist party and discipline is paramount. Only a disciplined party can lead people, win elections and organize revolution. No member of this party shall act against these ideals”, politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, widely expected to succeed Pinarayi as the state secretary, said.
During his meeting with Karat, VS demanded definite answers to five issues he had raised including the role of the CPM state leadership in harbouring the accused in the TP Chandrasekharan murder case, and disciplinary action against Pinarayi for publicly reading out the resolution condemning him.
Though answers to these demands are unlikely at this juncture, the central leadership may be ready to take up the issue in the central committee meeting. Retaining VS in the state committee may be another assurance from the central leadership.