The CPI’s decision would come as a relief for Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who has been battling alone against Vijayan. The move to jettison Vijayan is a departure from the earlier stand of the CPI, which had tacitly supported the CPI(M) in endorsing the advocate-general’s report against prosecuting the state secretary.
During the state executive meeting held last week, the party’s central leadership had come down on state leaders for their failure to uphold the party’s professed stand against corruption. CPI state secretary Veliyam Bhargavan was then forced to comment that the Lavalin case could not be construed as politically motivated.
CPI sources said this shift in its stance should be seen as an attempt to bring the party out of the CPI(M)’s shadow. The CPI state leadership has faced severe criticism for toeing the line of the faction of the CPI(M) led by Vijayan.
During Friday’s party secretariat meeting, two assistant secretaries wanted to take a stand in favour of Vijayan in the Lavalin issue. However, the trade union lobby, led by a senior AITUC functionary, was vehemently opposed to the idea, as it would be suicidal for the party already facing an identity crisis in the state.
To do a balancing act, the official release said the Governor had shown undue haste in giving the sanction for prosecution. It was unbecoming of the Governor, said the release, to bypass the Cabinet and give the sanction report to the CBI.
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