Pinarayi Vijayan to be Kerala's next CM; Achuthanandan is our Fidel Castro; War within the Congress
Thiruvananthapuram, May 20 (IANS) The CPI-M on Friday decided to name veteran leader Pinarayi Vijayan, son of a toddy tapper, Kerala's new chief minister, sidelining former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan.
Party sources said Achuthanandan, 92, was apparently not happy with the decision because he had felt he might get a second chance, at least for a while, before handing over charge to Vijayan, 72.
The two leaders are known to be long-time rivals within the otherwise regimented Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which led the LDF to a victory in elections to the 140-member assembly.
The CPI-M opted for Vijayan at a meeting of the party's state secretariat chaired by general secretary Sitaram Yechury and attended by his predecessor Prakash Karat, who is known to be close to Vijayan.
A formal announcement is expected to be made later on Friday. Vijayan will be the 22nd chief minister of Kerala.
Vijayan, who hails from Pinarayi village in Kannur district, got associated with the CPI-M during his student days. His mentor in the CPI-M was the legendary A.K. Gopalan.
At age 24, he was inducted into the Kannur district committee of the CPI-M. From there, he had a steady growth in the party.
Now a five-time legislator, Vijayan made his electoral debut in 1970. He became the Electricity Minister in 1996 in the cabinet of E.K. Nayanar.
It was during this period that he became the unquestioned organizational leader, reigning supreme as the state party secretary from 1998 to 2015.
By the time he gave up the post last year, he had virtually come to control the CPI-M in Kerala although Achuthanandan remained a mass leader and was chief minister from 2006 to 2011.
Within the party, Vijayan even cut to size Achuthanandan because of the support he enjoyed in various party units.
The only blip in his political career came in 1997 when he, as the Electricity Minister, was accused of causing a loss of Rs.266 crore to the state exchequer over a power deal.
But the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) exonerated Vijayan in 2013. The Kerala government approached the high court, where the matter is expected to come up next month.
Married to teacher (now retired) T. Kamala, the couple have a son and a daughter who are both professionals.
Achuthanandan is our Fidel Castro: Yechury
Thiruvananthapuram, May 20 (IANS) The CPI-M said on Friday that it did not pick V.S. Achuthanandan as Kerala's chief minister in view of his age and compared him with the legendary Fidel Castro.
Announcing the decision to make Pinarayi Vijayan the new chief minister, party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Achuthanandan, 92, was not given a second stint in view of his age and physical limitations.
"Comrade VS is like Fidel Castro in Cuba where he acts in an advisor's role. Like Castro, VS will play that role here," Yechury told the media.
When Yechury made the announcement, he was flanked by Achuthanandan and state party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Yechury, however, did not take questions on the selectio
War within Congress in Kerala
Allegations and counter-allegations flew thick and fast, forcing state party president V.M. Sudheeran to appeal for calm. He said a meeting had been called here on Monday "where everyone can speak".
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) suffered one of its worst electoral reverses when its tally crashed from 73 seats to 47 in the 140-member Kerala assembly.
The Congress' own strength in the house fell from 39 to 22. Among those who were humbled by a resurgent Left were two ministers, the speaker and the deputy speaker.
The Congress in Kerala had always suffered from factionalism.
The three main factions are led by outgoing Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and Sudheeran.
Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former Chief Minister K. Karunakaran who lost at Thrissur, said she was stabbed in the back by senior leaders.
"The grassroot workers in the party were always with me during the campaign while the leadership was not there," said an angry Venugopal.
Another party leader and former minister C.N. Balakrishnan, who was not given a seat to contest, hit back, saying Venugopal was becoming emotional because she had lost the polls.
State Congress vice president Laly Vincent, who lost badly at Alappuzha, blamed the rout on the party's decision to field some candidates facing allegations of corruption.
Senior Congress leader and INTUC president R. Chandrasekheran said the UDF would not have been defeated if Chief Minister Chandy had not hijacked the party.
Former Excise Minister K. Babu gave a reason as to why he was defeated: confusion over his seat. "When the confusion is created in my party, what will my voters think?"
K. Muraleedharan, the son of K. Karunakaran who won his seat in the capital city, said there was no point in blaming any one person and that the Congress would have to introspect.
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