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Hurt by media reports that he is manoeuvring a cosy post in the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala as well as in the party, senior CPI(M) leader VS Achuthanandan has come out strongly against the ‘insinuations and propaganda’ against him.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Achuthanandan, in a Facebook post, flatly denied having demanded party general secretary Sitaram Yechuri to give him positions in the government and party. The 92-year-old increasingly uses Facebook to let his ideas and views on issues known.
“I can assert with pride that in my public service over the past seven-and-a-half decades, at no stage have I hungered after positions of power,” he said. “As part of my public service, the party has given me certain positions and I have proudly accepted them.”
Media reports had said that during the swearing-in of the new LDF government in Thiruvananthapuram on May 25, Achuthanandan had handed over a note to Yechuri that listed three posts: advisor to the government with Cabinet rank; chairman of the LDF committee; and membership in the party State secretariat.
Achuthanandan’s post sharply criticised a particular media house “for spreading the lie that I had given a note to Yechuri asking for positions and privileges.”
He asserted that if he indeed needed positions of power, he had the freedom to tell one-on-one to any leader in the CPI(M). Achuthanandan had all these days kept mum on the controversy. The CPI(M) Politburo had recently asked the State party unit and the Pinarayi government to give a Cabinet rank post to him. Achuthanandan had played a key role in the LDF’s remarkable victory in the recent Assembly election.
It was also reported that he had staked his claim to become the Chief Minister, but had backed off later.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Cabinet has deferred a decision on granting a post to the nonagenarian. The Cabinet discussed the matter but could not evolve a consensus. It merely referred the same to the larger LDF to take a final decision.
Power centres “Such decisions have to be taken by the government of Kerala. We have set the process rolling,” is how the CPI(M) general secretary put it in New Delhi last week.
The leadership wants also to ensure that the new position does not lead to the creation of two power centres in the State government.
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