Mystery letter piles up more misery on CPM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Opposition Leader’s office on Sunday confirmed that CPM leader V S Achuthanandan had sent a letter to the CPM general secretary Prakash Karat explaining the grave political situation prevailing in the state following the gruesome murder of RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan.Sources said that the letter had been sent to the central leadership raising apprehension of the party encountering a severe crisis in the aftermath of the murder.However, the sources differed on the contents of the letter as reported by the TV channels on Sunday.“To my knowledge, there was no specific demand for the removal of state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan or the revamp of the state committee or the state secretariat. VS might have said that it would be difficult to get along with the current leadership. He had already expressed his views elaborately at a news conference last week held in Thiruvananthapuram. Most of those views have again figured in the letter,” they said.“VS used to write such letters to the party leadership whenever an issue cropped up in the media or in the political circles. But the letter did not contain any demand to remove the state secretary or to restructure the state committee of the party,” the sources reiterated.However, a former CPM leader who is in the know of things and a person believed to be the link between VS and his erstwhile loyalists but who does not want to be named, told Express that the letter was sent to the central leadership three days back by speed post. It contained the demand to remove Pinarayi as secretary and VS’s willingness to step down as Opposition Leader, the leader said. He said that VS had written that the party leadership should have tried to bring back the rebels who have quit the party alleging right deviation in the party.He also said that VS had done nothing against the party discipline as he being a central committee member had the right to write to the general secretary.“Prakash Karat is the secretary of the party in which VS is a senior member. There is no breach of party discipline,” he said.CPM politburo member M A Baby said he could not react to a story being run by TV channels without ascertaining its veracity.“If at all a letter is written by a CPM leader to another comrade, it is not expected to be known to the media. I don’t believe it is true and worth reacting,” he said.He added that they were engaged in an electoral battle and any attempt to create controversies by media was to divert attention.