Alappuzha: In a flare-up of prolonged rivalry on the eve of the state meet, CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijyan mounted a merciless attack on party's senior leader VS Achuthanandan for shooting a strongly worded letter to central leadership on the state unit's functioning.
Reacting sharply to Vijayan's barbs, the nonagenarian leader said he is "rejecting with deserving contempt" the allegations of the state secretary and said he expected a reply on issues raised by him from the polit bureau.
"I have sent a letter to polit bureau. I expect a reply from them (PB members). I reject with deserving contempt his (Vijayan's) statement," Achuthanandan, who was also in Alappuzha, told reporters.
Significantly, the trading of charges between the two leaders happened on the eve of the crucial state conference where Vijayan will step down as state secretary on completion of three consecutive terms at the key post.
A founding leader of the CPI(M), Achuthanandan had sent a strongly worded letter to the polit bureau citing serious lapses on the part of the state leadership, which also got leaked to sections of media.
Questioning the contention of the Vijayan-led state unit that it had been performing quite well over a decade, the senior leader alleged that the leadership had in fact committed several serious mistakes.
The veteran leader referred to issues like the murder of rebel Marxist T P Chandrasekharan, tactical alliance struck by the CPI(M) with PDP led by Abdul Nasser Madani in 2009 Lok Sabha elections and the party's "failure" to lead a strong and sustained stir against the UDF Government.
Addressing a press meet after a meeting of the state secretariat, Vijayan rubbished the charges raised by Achuthanandan and accused him of "gross violation of party discipline".
He went on to say that Achuthanandan had stooped to the level of a factionalist and his latest stance only betrayed "anti-party mindset".
Tearing into Achuthanandan's charges, Vijayan said all these matters had alerady been "discussed and rejected" by the central leadership.
"VS continues to violate party discipline. All the issues raised by him had been discussed and rejected by the central leadership. His stand only shows that he has slipped into base factionalism and it betrayed his anti-party mindset," he said.
A former Chief Minister and now the opposition leader in the Assembly, despite his popularity and seniority, Achuthanandan was dropped from the polit bureau a couple of years back for openly airing his grievances.
The wordy duel between two leaders apparently came as an embarrassment to the party cadres who were expecting a smooth state meet unmarred by factional tussles.
After stepping down as state secretary at the conclusion of the state meet, Vijayan is expected to move on to the legislative side by the next Assembly polls as the party's Chief Ministerial aspirant.
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