The CPI(M)s decision to build a defensive wall around politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan,named an accused in the multi-crore SNC Lavalin scam,has pushed the party into its worst ever predicament. How the crisis will get manifested within the party ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections will depend on the next course of action taken by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan,who is clearly against the idea of standing with his tainted rival. While the party has deployed all available means to pledge its solidarity with Pinarayi and roped in many pro-Left littérateurs to write for him,the heavily-loaded silence of Achuthanandan portends a disaster for the CPI(M). He is now weighing various options against the possibility of the party refusing to address his concern about Pinarayi leading it during the ensuing elections. Keeping Pinarayi away from the party helm is necessary for Achuthanandan to cushion the electoral impact of the Lavalin scam. Though Achuthanandan has been looking forward to the next politburo meeting to discuss the Lavalin issue,the firm reactions of politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai in favour of Pinarayi have made clear that the dye has been cast. Addressing party-organised programmes in various towns across the state,Pillai has repeatedly said that the case was framed by the Congress to attack the Left. The CPI(M) will politically confront the case. The party will not succumb to the pressures of any person, said Pillai. Despite the strong party machinery making an all out attempt to blame the CBI and the UPA for putting Pinarayi in the dock,the message has not gone down well with the party rank and file. After Pinarayi figured in the list of accused,party workers in certain areas registered their protest by putting up banners ridiculing the party secretary. What has further embarrassed the party is that the anti-Pinarayi mood became more tangible in Communist strongholds. A banner at Kasargode,where Pinarayi will start his state-wide political tour next week,read: Pinarayi the name of the place where Communist party was formed; Pinarayi Vijayan the demon of death of the Communist Party in Kerala. History will not pardon Pinarayi Vijayan for being anti-people. This indicates that the party workers have identified the Lavalin case as a fallout of the degeneration that has set in within the party. They are prompt in registering their discomfiture with the leadership when Communist values are at stake. The recent incidents of rebellion within the party in various districts show that the party workers had rejected the official decision,if its against public cause. They have stood with the leaders who argued for public interest and fought against corruption. That is what holds hope for Achuthanandan though the party snubs him. The CPI(M) suspended Shornur municipal vice-chairman M R Murali when he raised voice against corruption of the official faction. Instead of looking into the corruption charges,the party overnight suspended Murali,leading to a virtual split in the party at Shornur region. A major chunk of party workers backed the suspended leader. Its fallout was evident in the recent bypolls held to the municipality,which saw rebels emerge as winners. A striking similarity was seen in the rebellion at Ambalappuzha,the home town of Achuthanandan. Party workers owing allegiance to Achuthanandan protested against the attempt of leaders belonging to the rival faction to hush up a sex racket which took the lives of three school girls. Instead of addressing the matter,the party decided to serve show-cause notices to the local leaders who questioned the official line on the sex racket. When the rebels threatened that they will form a parallel Communist outfit,the party district leadership put the show-cause notices into the freezer. But the party workers vented their ire against the tainted leadership last week by electing a CPI(M) rebel in a bypoll. The rebel,V Dhyana Suthan,bagged the election to Ambalapuzha panchayat without any support from the Congress. If Achuthanandan openly protests against the party decision to throw its weight behind Pinarayi,one cant rule out the possibility of ground-level upsurge in favour of the former. When Achuthanandan was denied ticket to contest the Assembly elections in 2006,mass protest against the decision was reported from Pinarayi in Kannur,Vijayans native place and where the first Communist unit was formed.
