KOCHI: The Vigilance case against Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan has put him in a tight spot, and, with the state party conference round the corner, he is likely to be targeted by his nemesis within the party.Achuthanandan, who had taken a firm stand against party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case, will find it hard to consolidate his position in the party in the coming days.With the Vigilance initiating legal proceedings against him for criminal conspiracy, cheating and destroying evidences in a case regarding allotment of 2.33 acres of land in Kasaragod district to one of his relatives when he was the Chief Minister, the state conference in February will be a litmus test for the octogenarian with the official faction raking up the issue.The CPM state unit and Achuthanandan have always been at loggerheads and the vigilance inquiry is the latest episode where deep fault lines have started surfacing once again.Soon after the Vigilance filed the FIR, the startling outcome is that the party’s state and central leadership took a long time to respond.Pinarayi’s response to the issue that there was no need for Achuthanandan to resign came only after politburo member Sitaram Yechury came out in support of VS.Sources in the party said that Achuthanandan, who had already lost his foot in the district conferences, would have struggling days ahead with Pinarayi tightening the noose around the veteran leader. They said that the party would now gravitate to the leadership of Pinarayi and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.A majority of the state secretariat and state committee members said that they have not gone through the case and would not be in a position to commend on it. LDF convener Vaikom Viswan said he could react to the issue only after understanding every aspect of it. Most of them said that they had not followed the issue, which means that Achuthanandan will have no other choice but to fight it out all alone.Sources said that it was a meaningful silence on the part of the top leadership. They said that the leadership had not timely responded, which only showed the indifferent attitude on the part of the top leadership. The Pinaryi faction’s silence was not surprising as Achuthanandan had taken a stubborn stand when Pinarayi had to go through a similar situation in the SNC Lavlin case. When the state and the central party leadership stood behind Pinarayi, Achuthanandan had maintained an obscure silence.It is to be noted that whenever the factional rift had come up for scrutiny, the Politburo had always taken action against Achuthanandan, while most of the time Pinarayi had gone scot-free.In 2009, Achuthanandan was removed from the party Politburo on charges of ‘indiscipline’ and ‘violating organisational principle’ while Pinarayi, who was also part of the factional feud got away without any action against him.
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