CPI-M politburo to decide fate of squabbling Kerala leaders

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which began a special politburo meeting here Saturday, is expected to announce measures to curb the infighting in its Kerala unit - between Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan - that was seen as a major reason for the party's debacle in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

The two-day politburo meet is being held at the party headquarters here.

"All politburo members except West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee are attending the meeting," a party source told IANS.

Achuthanandan, who arrived in the capital Friday night, told reporters that he has left the issue of his continuing in the chief minister's post to "the party and the people".

"The party and people will decide on whether I should continue as chief minister," Achuthanandan said Friday.

He has been under attack by the party cadre for seeking the removal of Vijayan - an accused in the multi-crore SNC-Lavlin scam - as party state secretary. On the other hand, Vijayan wants Achuthanandan to quit as chief minister for violating party discipline.

The CPI-M central committee election review meeting earlier had held the state leaders guilty for the party's rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

According to the central committee document: "The disunity in the LDF (Left Democratic Front) led by the CPI-M was one of the factors for the defeat. The disunity in the party and LDF had an adverse impact on the people. Some of the statements of Comrade V.S. Achuthanandan during the campaign had an adverse effect and helped the opposition campaign."

Last updated on Jul 4^th, 2009 at 12:59 pm IST--IANS