THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Making a tactical retreat, Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan changed his stand against CPM politburo’s statement on the Mullaperiyar dam issue. “I made the statement without understanding the facts clearly and had written to the politburo clarifying my stand,’’ he said. Achuthanandan briefed the party state secretariat after the politburo officially expressed its ‘displeasure’ over his statement on the Mullaperiyar issue contradicting the PB stand. VS was apprised by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan of the politburo’s ‘displeasure’ during the state secretariat meeting of the party here on Sunday. On December 2 while talking to reporters here, Achuthanandan took exception to the PB statement on the issue by stating that ‘’it does not reflect the sentiments of the people of the state. I hope PB w ould correct it.’’ On the previous day, the CPM politburo in a statement, said that the CPM had treated the safety of the dam as secondary compared to that of assuring water supply to Tamil Nadu. It stated that “ the CPM stand on the Mullaperiyar dam issue has always been guided by two principles. The first is that the Mullaperiyar dam provides water to Tamil Nadu which has proved vital to the agriculture and development of the areas concerned. The water supply to Tamil Nadu should be assured in the future too. The second issue is the safety of this 116- year-old dam in Idukki district of Kerala.” But the party made a modification on December 13 when it stated, ‘’the Mullaperiyar dam issue which is the cause of the differences between the two states has to be settled keeping in mind both aspects - the safety of the dam and the provision of water to Tamil Nadu.’’ State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had publicly criticised the statement made by VS the other day. “ VS should not have countered the statement, but could have intimated PB if he had a complaint,” he said. Though it expressed displeasure, there would not any disciplinary action by the PB against Achuthanandan on this issue.
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