Who’s in, who’s out in Kerala CPI(M), party conference to decide
Kollam: As the flag of the CPI(M) went up at the four-day state conference in Kerala’s Kollam on Thursday, the discussion in party is who is going to be in and who will be shown the door as the new state committee will run the show for the next three years.
Over the years, a lot of changes have taken place in the style of functioning of the party. The last time the cashew capital of Kerala — Kollam — hosted a party conference in 1995 saw a bitter election battle to the top posts between V.S. Achuthanandan and E.K. Nayanar. In the end, the former was edged out by a margin of just two votes for the post of state secretary.
A bruised Achuthanandan knew he was defeated by the trade union leaders heading the CITU, and in subsequent years, he returned strongly when he went on to become the most popular leader cutting across party affiliations, and in 2006, he became the Chief Minister. But by then, the present Chief Minister and the then party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had firmly got control over the party and at one point, due to intense rivalry between the two, the party’s national leadership decided to suspend both of them from the politburo.
However, after a while, when Vijayan was reinstated, age caught up with Achuthanandan. He was given an honorable exit and is bedridden at his son’s house in the state capital city. A media critic, on condition of anonymity, said that with Chief Minister Vijayan the unquestionable leader in the party and in the government, there will be no doubt that it will be his call on who’s going to be in and who’s going to be out.
“One will have to wait a day or two to know how many will be given the exemption as 75 is the cut-off age limit in the party for all. Already, CM Vijayan has an exemption, and it remains to be seen how many more will get that exemption. One of its tallest leaders and two-time state Minister G. Sudhakaran is not even an invitee to the Kollam conference, and that clearly shows CM Vijayan continues to be the deciding factor,” said the media critic, who did not wish to be identified.
In the present state committee, there are 87 members, and in the state secretariat, there are 17. With the upper age of 75 being the criterion, around 15 people will have to move out to make way for a new set of leaders and at present, the only person who has got the exemption is CM Vijayan.
Veteran leader and former state Minister A.K. Balan, who hoisted the party flag and announced the commencement of the conference, has crossed 75. State secretary M.V. Govindan made it clear that age will be strictly adhered to, and politburo member and presently the in-charge general secretary Prakash Karat has also said that it’s the prerogative of the state party unit to decide on exemptions.
By Friday evening, the list of the new set of office-bearers will be known, and who is in, who is out and who gets an exemption will be clear and most likely to be decided by CM Vijayan only.
