Official faction gains upper hand in Kollam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the CPM area conferences in the Kollam district enter a crucial stage, the evolving picture is inspiring for the official faction.  However, in spite of having achieved an advantageous position, the official faction also has some reasons to worry as infighting within the group has been reported from their strongholds such as Chavara. Out of the eight area conferences completed by Thursday, the official faction has gained a clear edge over the VS faction in places which had been known as citadels of the VS group.In the Kollam, Anchalummoodu, Anchal and Kunnathur area committees, the Pinarayi faction has emerged victors. In the Kollam area committee, the incumbent secretary Somanathan, a known sympathiser of the VS group, did a somersault at the last minute and joined the official faction to save his position. Similarly, B K Anirudhan’s election as the secretary of the Anchalummoodu area committee has made the official faction confident. The election of Somaprasad as secretary of the Kunnathur area committee has added to the official faction’s strength.But the VS faction has reasons to smile in their victory at the Kadakkal area committee. Neduvathur area had no ideological ambiguity in electing  VS loyalist Anandan as secretary. Sooranad area committee also decided to side with the VS group and elected Sankara Pillai as secretary.The conferences which will be determining the fate of the tussle for supremacy will begin from Friday.The infighting within the Pinarayi group led by state committee member M K Bhaskaran is going to be a major headache for the faction. The love lost between Bhaskaran and Vikraman, another faction leader, has resulted in a major rift.  The major upset is expected in the Kottarakkara area conference as ahead of the conference, the incumbent secretary Mukesh was removed from the post and R Sahadevan, district secretariat member, was given the charge.The fact that Kottarakkara contribute a sizable number of delegates to the district conference makes the conference crucial. In spite of the fact that VS faction was ditched by its leaders, the young brigade among the cadres is putting up a spirited fight. The lack of enthusiasm shown by P K Gurudasan in leading the block and a relatively neutral stand taken by faction leaders Mercy Kutty Amma, B Thulashidhara Kurup and D Rajappan Nair have left them leaderless.