The answer to that question is: it means a lot. Its immediate effect will be a severe restriction on the political maouevrability of the dominant ‘Kannur lobby’ led by Pinarayi Vijayan. Conversely, the lobby’s bête noire, V. S. Achuthanandan can afford to breathe easy now. The body language of both the leaders expressed it eloquently. The broad smile on the face of VS and the grim look sported by Pinarayi were self-explanatory.

Having said that, it must also be noted that Yechury is unlikely to opt for the path of confrontation with the Kannur lobby. The peerless pragmatist that he is, Yechury will use all his powers of persuasion and charm to take the anti-VS faction along while taking decisions on the problems plaguing the Kerala unit of the CPI(M). Yechury is not likely to hold it against the Vijayan camp that it tried its level best to deny him the top party post.

But the Vijayan faction knows jolly well that the days when it could exert pressure on the central leadership of the party are over. Yechury will not be amenable to pressure the way the Prakash Karat and S Ramchandran Pillai duo were. The Vijayan faction can longer expect the new leadership to oblige it the way the Karat SRP team played along in VS-hostile words and deeds.

An immediate upshot of the change of guard will be that there is unlikely to be any threat to VS’s position as Leader of the Opposition till May 2016, when the Kerala Assembly elections will be due. In other words, the carefully orchestrated plans of the Vijayan cam to oust him from the LOP’s post have gone awry.

That much is clear from the remarks of Yechury in his first interview to an English daily after taking over as the general secretary. To a pointed question on what he would do with VS, Yechury said: “What is there to do with him? He is the senior-most leader in the CPI(M). He is one of the 32 who walked out of the CPI national council and initiated the formation of the CPI(M). He is a very senior leader and the party has always accorded him that position and will continue to do so”. The bluntness and directness of the message cannot be lost on the Pinarayi camp.

Another beneficial impact for VS could be that the report of the Polit Buro Commission which is probing his alleged anti-party line, may not be as harsh as the Vijayan camp expects it to be. With Yechury at the helm, such a denouement is highly unlikely.

It will also be watched with keen interest what action Yechury will take on the issues raised by VS in his letter to former CPI(M) general secretary, Prakash Karat. VS had demanded that the resolution passed by the State secretariat which dubs him as an anti-party leader must be withdrawn; the other VS demand is that the two CPI(M) leaders who had been sentenced to jail terms in the TP Chandrashekharan murder case should be expelled from the party. Can Yechury afford to oblige him in the teeth of opposition from the Vijayan camp? That is the big question.

Another major issue raised by VS will also have to be addressed soon. The CPI(M) stalwart had squarely blamed the leadership of Vijayan for alienating LDF constituents like the Socialist Janata(Democratic) led by M. P. Veerendra Kumar and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP). The arrogant ways of Vijayan had forced both the parties to leave the LDF and join the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Achuthanandan is sure that the new leadership will do everything in its power to facilitate their early return to the LDF, which, he says, will strengthen left unity in the state.

Be that as it may, it must also be stated that it will not an unmixed blessing for VS either. Yechury has always cared to differ with VS and even admonish him whenever he violated party discipline. That being the case, VS will have to ensure that he does not take the new CPI(M) general secretary for granted. The veteran can be assured of one thing: while his genuine grievances will be looked into, there will be no blanket support for him from Yechury. VS is too intelligent a leader not to understand this. (IPA Service)