New Delhi, July 04: The CPI(M) Polit Bureau on Saturday met here to find an end to the disunity in its Kerala unit with the two top State leaders — Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and State party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan — sticking to their stand.
Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan are understood to have presented their case in the meeting at AKG Bhavan, the CPI(M) headquarters, here on the first day. Sources said they have stuck to their position.
The two-day meeting is being attended by CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, S. Ramachandran Pillai and Biman Bose, besides Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan among others.
The extraordinary meeting comes in the backdrop of intense factional fight in its Kerala unit where the Chief Minister and Mr. Vijayan are on a war path.
Both Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan have earlier demanded the removal of each other.
“We are meeting for two days. I cannot predict the outcome of the meeting,” Polit Bureau member M.K. Pandhe told reporters when asked whether the party was contemplating action against the leaders in Kerala.
He also said all issues regarding Kerala, including SNC Lavalin graft case in which Vijayan is facing prosecution, will be discussed in the meeting.
Both the Kerala factions have submitted complaints accusing each other before the Polit Bureau which is understood to have been deliberating on it.
After the Central Committee meeting in June, Mr. Karat had said the high decision-making body had decided that the wrangling must be settled soon.
This is the second time in past five years that the Polit Bureau is meeting to exclusively discuss Kerala issues. The first such meeting was held on February 13, 2005 in Kolkata.
The Kolkata meeting had come prior to Malappuram State conference of the party when factionalism was at the peak. The Polit Bureau had then asked the factions led by Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan to bury the hatchet and work unitedly.
But two years later, both the leaders were suspended from the Polit Bureau for taking their fight out in the public domain. Their suspension was later revoked.
–Agencies