VS campaigns for Vijayan even as feud simmers beneath the surface

Senior CPI (M) leader and former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan on Thursday campaigned for Pinarayi Vijayan, considered his arch rival within the party, in the Dharmadam Assembly constituency in Kannur district.

The 92-year-old Achuthanandan – ‘VS’ for Keralites – took time off from his own constituency, Malampuzha in Palakkad district, to campaign for Vijayan as well as other Left Democratic Front candidates in north Kerala. At a campaign meeting, Achuthanadnan urged the people to vote Pinarayi Vijayan to victory.

Achuthanandan, the most popular CPI (M) leader in Kerala, attracted large crowds at his meetings. His appearance on the campaign trail boosted the enthusiasm of the CPI (M) cadre in Kannur district, a stronghold of the party.

Achuthanandan and Vijayan, former State secretary and Polit Bureau member of the CPI (M), head two rival factions within the party. The running feud between the two has dominated affairs over the past two decades and has contributed largely to the party’s decline.

At the initiative of the party’s central leadership in view of the Assembly election, the two have outwardly buried the hatchet. As the LDF smells victory in the May 16 election, the central leadership has told the two to lead the campaign together.

While the Dharmadam campaign gives positive signs, the media is celebrating another ‘emerging rift’ between the two. This centres on Vijayan’s remark that the party State committee’s assessment of VS still stays. This refers to an offensive report against him at the party’s State conference at Alappuzha in February last year, which was attended by senior leaders such as Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat. The report mentioned that VS was still following an anti-party line.

Offended and infuriated, Achuthanandan left the meeting in a huff, which led to his being denied a membership in the State committee.

Vijayan’s remark kicked a media controversy that gave the impression the two were still at war. However, Vijayan later claimed that the media had twisted his comments.

In a veiled reference, VS, who has recently taken to social media in a big way, said in a Facebook post that LDF leaders should be careful while making comments at a time when highly competitive media outlets were ‘nosing around’ for controversies. State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan criticised the media for portraying the CPI (M) in bad light.

If the LDF comes to power, who will head the government – Vijayan or VS – is a key point.

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