Crisis in Kerala

The purge in Kerala of Leader of the Opposition VS Achuthandan by the Communists is nothing short of revolting. That the Stalinist VS, as Achuthandan is known, has been caught in the crosshairs of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) nextgen leadership, both at the state and national levels, is a well known fact. VS, the ultimate orthodox Communist, has of late found the going tough, particularly after the recent party conclave in Malappuram, where his nominees to the state council bit the dust in the showdown against state party chief Pinarayi Vijayan. But what has shocked his supporters and detractors alike is the move to banish him from contesting the state election, though the party line is that he will lead the campaign – somewhat like a non-playing captain in a tennis match. Party leaders, as usual, have been playing down the public revolt in the state unit as a storm in a tea cup and as ‘propaganda’ of the ‘bourgeoisie’ press. But no one is buying this, and the writing on the wall is clear – VS is a dead man walking.
Forever the ideological hardliner, VS is a man out of sync with the present-day realities, particularly due to his opposition to the economic reforms and the role of private capital. As has been the case in India, where leaders never call it a day, VS, at 83, still pushes his ideological conviction with surprising gusto, and that makes him some sort of dinosaur in the party, which feels his stance on most issues does not gel with the realities of the 21st century. Rightly so for the party but not quite for many others. As a member of the old guard, which built up the party from among the dirt-poor, unorganised and illiterate proletariat during the British Raj and draconian rule of the maharajas, VS retains his stellar reputation as an uncorrupted politician with a mind of his own, which is something that cannot be said of the many telegenic, suave nextgen CPM leaders, who parachuted into leadership positions from university politics. And that is the root of the problem.
This battle between the old guard and the ‘new generation’, such as Prakash Karat at the national level and Pinarayi at the state level, was something waiting to happen. Purges are nothing new in Stalinist parties like the CPM and even VS had earlier been associated in some high-profile purges of leaders such as MV Raghavan on contrived ‘ideological grounds.’ But in an age when the breed of upright politicians, especially of the Communist variety, famous for their unvarnished integrity, is fast turning extinct, romantics will miss the hectoring honesty of leaders like VS.
This is an editorial published in Oman Tribune