That it was a consummate act of an astute politician is clear from the reaction of VS himself to the action against him. The veteran quickly went on record that he was pleased at the action. The official faction is also happy that at least some action has been taken against VS who, the PB Commission found was ‘guilty of grave breach of party discipline’.

The central leadership wisely refrained from taking stronger action against VS because it realizes that drastic action against the stalwart would have created more problems for the party in view of VS’s stature and huge popularity among the party’s cadres. The thunderous applause that greeted VS when he came to attend the public meeting at the end of the CC-PB meeting proved, once again, that he remains the most popular leader in the party.

That said, it must also be stated that Yechury failed to do what he could have – rather should have done – to put things in perspective. For instance, it was in the fitness of things that VS was subjected to a censure, albeit a mild one at that, for his acts of indiscipline. The general secretary could not have avoided that given the pressure for some action.

But, there was a defeaning silence on his part on VS’s complaint against the leadership of the state unit. VS had demanded action against the state leadership then headed by Pinarayi Vijayan for violating party norms. The party’s constitution demands, VS said, that no disciplinary action be initiated once a state conference of the party begins. But the Kerala unit, in flagrant disregard of this norm, got the state secretariat to pass a resolution against VS; that was bad enough. Worse was to leak it to the media, which resulted in VS walking out of the Alappuzha conference of the party. The failure to pull up the state leadership – Yechury could at least have disapproved of it in his press conference. That would have mollified VS supporters – was inexcusable. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, too, Mr Yechury. In other words, it amounted to making fish of one and flesh of another. This glaring failure detracted a bit from Yechury’s otherwise flawless handling of a difficult situation.

Again, it was a bit unfair to refuse to make VS a member of the State committee. He is only an invitee, who can speak in the committee, participate in its deliberations and air his views there; but he won’t have any voting right. After all, VS is a permanent invitee to the Central Committee. And by virtue of being that, he is already a member of the state committee. There was no need to make a special announcement on that to give the impression that the Central leadership is making a fine gesture to the veteran! Also, heavens would not have come down crashing if he had been given voting powers. Given the fact that the state committee is packed with the supporters of Pinarayi Vijayan who, ipso facto, enjoys a brute majority, giving voting right to VS would not have made any difference. On the other hand, it would have enhanced the stature of the central leadership. It also amounted to an insult, albeit an unintended one, to the patriarch.

Similarly, the central leadership slipped badly on the MM Mani issue as well. The ostensible reason given for not acting against Mani at this juncture was that any action at this stage would prejudice the case against him. The argument won’t wash as it is weak. It also goes against the CPI(M)’s stand that people who have criminal cases against them should not occupy positions of power.

It must be mentioned that CPI(M) had vociferously demanded the resignation of K M Mani from the erstwhile Oommen Chandy Government for ‘corruption’. Charges against Mani are more serious: he is a an accused in a murder case, which is before the court now. And by getting Mani to step down pending the trial,CPI(M) would have taken the wind out of the sails of the Opposition, which is now in possession of a potent weapon to attack the Pinarayi government. Expectedly, the Congress-led Opposition UDF is extracting maximum political mileage out of the issue to the acute discomfiture of the Pinarayi Government.

However, the CC asked the State committee to probe allegations of nepotism against CC members E.P. Jayarajan and P.K. Srimathi and submit report before the next CC meeting.

True, Yechury has managed to weather the storm with his pragmatic handling of the situation. But failure to make Mani step down would go against the CPI(M) and the government headed by it. The growing public perception is that a communist government, which puts a premium on good governance and fight against corruption, should have done better than defending the indefensible in the Mani matter. And this would, undoubtedly make a big dent in its reputation and credibility besides prevent the LDF Government from occupying the moral high ground. (IPA Service)