Kerala   

CPI(M) secretariat reconstituted

C. Gouridasan Nair

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: S. Sarma and M. Chandran, trusted lieutenants of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau (PB) member, V.S. Achuthanandan, have been dropped from the CPI(M) secretariat in Kerala.

The secretariat, reconstituted by a three-day party State committee meeting that concluded here on Sunday, has three new faces — Vaikom Viswan, V.V. Dakshinamoorthy and A.K. Balan. The former CPI(M) PB member, E. Balanandan, has also been included in the 15-member secretariat. One position has been left vacant and would be filled later.

The State committee, which reviewed the Malappuram State conference of the party in February this year, has also constituted a three-member panel to look into allegations of factionalism in some districts during the run-up to the State conference and a two-member committee to look into leakage of sensitive aspects of the deliberations at the Malappuram meet to the media. The three-member committee, headed by LDF convener Paloli Mohammed Kutty, has A. Vijayaraghavan and E.P. Jayarajan as its members. The committee on media has P. Karunakaran, MP, as its convener and Mr. A.K. Balan as its member. The members of the reconstituted CPI(M) State secretariat are: Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr. V. S. Achuthanandan, Mr. E. Balanandan, Mr. Paloli Mohammed Kutty, M.A. Baby, Mr. P. Karunakaran, P.K. Gurudasan, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Mr. E.P. Jayarajan, T. Sivadasa Menon, T.M. Thomas Isaac, Mr. Vaikom Viswan, Mr. V.V. Dakshinamoorthy and Mr. A.K. Balan. Notably, there is not a single woman in the reconstituted secretariat. The last secretariat had Susheela Gopalan as its member till her death.

The panel of new secretariat members, prepared by a joint meeting of the PB members and outgoing State secretariat, was presented before the State committee by the party State secretary, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, and was approved by show of hands for and against. Although the names of both Mr. Sarma and Mr. Chandran were proposed from the floor, the two outgoing secretariat members informed the committee that they were not interested in a contest.

Briefing presspersons after the meeting, Mr. Vijayan said one position had been left vacant in the State secretariat considering the special circumstances in Kerala. His replies to questions clearly suggested that the committee had come close to a formal division while choosing the new secretariat and that other names might have come up from the floor. "Isn't it natural that other views surface in a vibrant political party? What is so surprising about it," he retorted when asked whether there was a contest to choose the new secretariat. Mr. Vijayan said though the State committee had approved the report on the Malappuram conference, it would not be sent to the lower levels for discussions immediately.

Instead, it would be sent to the PB for further deliberations. The State secretary's report on the organisational work during the last three years, approved by the Malappuram conference, would, however, be sent immediately to the lower levels for discussion and approval, he said.

The Party Congress at New Delhi, Mr. Vijayan pointed out, had concluded that factional activities had taken place in connection with the Malappuram conference and added that the matter had been taken up seriously at the State-level as well. He claimed that much of what had appeared in the media about the deliberations at the State conference and the State committee meeting were baseless and said that, for instance, no criticism had been levelled by anyone at the State committee meeting against Mr. E. P. Jayarajan as reported in a section of the media.

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