VS isolated,asked to quit

Sensing that Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has been deserted by his own camp before the crucial Politburo meeting to discuss the SNC Lavalin scandal...

Sensing that Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has been deserted by his own camp before the crucial Politburo meeting to discuss the SNC Lavalin scandal,the CPI(M) official faction on Tuesday openly demanded that the veteran leader,one of the founding members of the party in the state,quit the party if he thought the Constitution was above party policy.

On the Lavalin case,in which CBI has named Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan as an accused,Achuthanandan had said that as he was sworn in to protect the Constitution,he would neither criticise the court nor the CBI probe,done under the vigil of the judiciary.

On Tuesday,senior party leader M M Lawrence said anyone who considered the Constitution above the CPI(M) policy would have no other option,but to leave the party. In the CPI(M),nobody has the freedom to act on his own. Moral principles lie in protecting the party,not in wrecking it, he said. Another Pinarayi loyalist and minister,G Sudhakaran,said those who fail to stand with the party would be thrown out of the ministry. Denouncing the party line is the real violation of the Constitution.

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His three nominees in the state cabinetS Sharma,M Vijayakumar and P K Gurudasanhave also toed the Pinarayi line in the case. Sharma,the second in command in the VS group,had said the case was politically motivated. Vijayakumar and Gurudasan too have hummed the Politburo tune.

With the Politburo meeting on February 14,an impression is gaining ground in the party that Achuthanandan is waging a loosing battle this time.

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