That much is clear from the tone and tenor of the remarks made by the newly-appointed Central Committee member, A. K. Balan, during a talk on a prominent Malayalam TV channel.

Balan had stated that the Polit Buro Commission would go ahead with its report on the probe against the alleged anti-party activities of party veteran V. S. Achuthanandan. In reply to a question, Balan went to the extent of saying that the new Polit Buro cannot interfere in the report prepared by the Commission appointed by the old PB!

That the ‘message’ meant for the new CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury betrays the unrelenting arrogance of the Pinarayi camp is too clear to bear reiteration.

It is evident that Balan, a staunch Pinarayi loyalist, is in no position to adopt such an arrogant stance on his own. He has done so obviously with the tacit approval of Vijayan. The offensive is a well-orchestrated move to deter Yechury from altering or diluting the report of the PB commission, which the official faction believes will be harsh against VS. The anti-VS camp clearly wants the commission to take things to ‘the logical conclusion’!

But will Yechury bow to what amounts to pressure tactics on the part of the Pinarayi camp? If his observations during an interview to a Malayalam TV channel is anything to go by, the new CPI(M) general secretary is unlikely to allow the Vijayan faction to have its way easily.

To a specific question on the PB commission report issue, Yechury’s reply was loud and clear: the situation has changed, and now a new PB is in place, said Yechury, adding that the new PB will obviously discuss the issue! The pithy remark was self-explanatory!

It is an open secret that the Vijayan faction is aiming at stripping VS of his position as Leader of the Opposition at the earliest. It has also opposed any move to accommodate VS in the State Committee.

But Yechury, who is already in the Kerala capital to attend the State Committee meeting, administered a clear rebuff to the Vijayan faction by inviting VS to attend the meeting. Until now, the impression was that VS would not attend the state committee meeting. The focus now will be on whether VS would be on the state committee and whether Yechury would ignore the objections of the official faction to including VS in the State committee before the completion and release of the PB commission report.

Evidently, the ‘Kannur lobby’ has not reconciled itself to the new ground reality: that a new general secretary, who won’t be amenable to pressure the way the earlier central leadership was, is at the helm. Hence the swift resort to a war of nerves to tame the new boss.

Of equal interest is whether Yechury would openly offend the Vijayan faction in matters relating to the PB Commission report and inclusion of VS in the State Committee or wait for the commission report to see the light. (IPA)