But the million dollar question is: Will the sudden VS ‘somersault’ really help the CPI(M), which is locked in a do-or-die poll battle to retain its national party status? Opinion is sharply divided on the issue. Top CPI(M) leaders and the committed cadres, who are still soaking in the heady feeling of euphoria over Achuthanandan’s ‘home-coming’ are sure it will. With VS’s ‘smoking the peace pipe’ with State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, the party has acquired, after a long time, a ‘unified’ look which will do it a world of good in the crucial electoral combat ahead, partymen are sure. The palpable sense of relief the CPI(M) leaders are now experiencing is clear from the words of Pinarayi Vijayan himself. And Vijayan has launched, for a change, a fierce attack on all the leaders who are now subjecting VS to a vicious onslaught on account of his pro-party words and deeds.
But the other section is skeptical. They are of the view that the VS turnaround is not going to help the party in any manner. If anything, they assert, the totally unexpected and utterly indefensible VS U-turn will only alienate countless VS admirers. And that these VS supporters who could have otherwise voted for the CPI(M) would now turn their back on both the CPI(M) stalwart and the party. This section, to which belongs thousands of committed cadres and people at large, are shocked and outraged by Achuthanandan’s unconvincing change of stance. They firmly believe it will not only diminish the status of VS which he had acquired through his unrelenting espousal of causes dear to him and the people of Kerala, but make him a laughing stock before the civil society which has held him in high esteem.
VS critics also put an uncharitable spin on the development which has deprived the CPI(M)’s political rivals of a powerful weapon with which to attack the party. They attribute the ‘about-turn’ to a ‘deal’ between VS and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat. What is the deal? That if VS mends his party-baiting ways, he would be allowed to retain his leader of the opposition status and be taken back to the Politburo. Both VS and Karat have rubbished the claim. But tongues continue to wag.
The VS ‘volte-face’ has shocked and saddened the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leaders. The most eloquent expression of their sense of hurt has come from the wife of slain RMP leader T P Chandrashekharan, K. K. Rema herself: That the VS turnaround was the 52nd stab on the body of her murdered husband! The RMP leaders refuse to believe that this is a change for good. It is only a temporary truce VS has agreed to in view of the crucial Lok Sabha elections. Once the polls are over, VS will revert to his old stance on TP murder case and the Lavalin issue.
Be that as it may, a closer look at the development would show that Achuthanandan has not really changed. True, he has accepted the report of the party which ‘conducted a probe’ into the TP murder case to find out whether any partymen were involved in it. The finding was that, out of the three CPI(M) leaders who have been sentenced to life imprisonment, only K. C. Ramachandran was guilty of planning and executing the murder of Chandrashekharan, and that the other two, P. K. Kunhanandan, who is very close to Pinarayi Vijayan, and Manoj had no role in the murder! The court verdict had held all the three guilty of political conspiracy to kill. The party commission report said Ramachandran killed Chandrashekharan because of personal enmity. But the court verdict was unambiguous: that it was a murder caused by political animosity.
Significantly, VS has not gone back on the demand for a CBI probe into the TP murder made by Rema; nor has he disowned the letter he wrote to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy supporting that demand. In fact, VS had sought that the CBI should probe also the international terrorist angle. He had demanded that the link between Fayas, who had been arrested in connection with gold smuggling, and the killers of Chandrashekharan whom he had met in jail, should also be investigated. There is no change in that stand. In his latest interaction with the media, VS has reiterated it. He did say that he was satisfied with the party report; but, more importantly, he also said that ‘let the CBI inquire into the matter, we shall see’. In other words, VS was clearly reserving his right to change his opinion should the CBI probe reveal ‘new facts’!
In the SNC Lavalin case too, VS said he had congratulated Vijayan on the court giving him a ‘clean chit’. But he had also reminded Vijayan that there are other courts also, meaning that the matter could be challenged in higher courts and that the last word in the matter has not been said!
Whatever the finale, for the moment the CPI(M) is luxuriating in a feeling of relief and euphoria over the VS’s new stance. And the newfound ‘unity’ in the party has galvanized the rank and file, and lent a new edge to the party’s poll campaign. Whether the result will match the current ‘magical mood’ of the party, time alone can tell. (IPA Service)
India
WILL THE SUDDEN VS ‘VOLTE-FACE’ HELP THE CPI(M)?
'CHANGE' SEEMS TO BE A MERE TACTICAL TRUCE
P. Sreekumaran - 2014-03-28 14:39
There is a distinct change in the body language of the Kerala CPI(M) leaders these days. The smiles are broad; the walks have acquired an added spring; and the sparkle in their eyes has become more pronounced. Why not? They have been recipients of the biggest slice of luck that has come their way in recent times. The man who has been a thorn in their flesh for over a decade has not only changed his hostile ways but has also started fiercely defending the party to which he belongs!! Wonder of wonders, gush the party leaders. Leaders belonging to the official faction of the state CPI(M) are besides themselves with joy at this astonishing and unbelievable transformation in the stance of their biggest baiter within the party: V S Achuthanandan.