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Ground realities do not favour VS taking the plunge
By O.J.George
Kottayam: The ground realities do not favour Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan to take drastic steps like going out of the CPM in protest against his removal from the politburo.
The support he gets from the people is nothing but mob hysteria for the time being. Once he is out of power positions, the mob would not continue to follow him on a decisive level.
Among the hard-core party cadres, his support is minimal. And the minimum support base may further erode once he finds himself out of the party.
Age and health factors do not favour an aggressive posture being successful on his part. There has been a rule that those who complete 80 years of age should be kept out of the politburo. Achuthanandan is past 80. He may not find himself within the PB again.
The pity is that in the party hierarchy within the Cabinet, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan remains a PB member and Chief Minister Achuthanandan out of it. The stance of Kodiyeri should have an upper hand, in the normal course.
Some of the staunchest supporters of VS had not kept up the momentum or looked askance at him these days.
Minister S.Sharma today met the Chief Minister at Cliff House and urged him not to go in for drastic action. It seems he urged the CM to wait and watch and then take a decision.
Minister P.K.Gurudasan had been a staunch supporter earlier. But these days he has not been that keen. Once he told the state committee VS should be unburdened of the heavy weight of many responsibilities.
Many of his supporters among the second or third rung leadership would not be with him if he decides to part ways. In fact, there may not be a single leader to be with him, when he is out.
As for media support, it is the most ephemeral thing one can bank on. Media hoopla is nothing but monkeying around a person and an issue. There is no fixity. They jump from one issue to another.
Politicians may be insincere, but media, ie the fourth estate, are worse, they don’t care a bit about eternal wedlock with a person or issue.
It is a slippery slope for V.S.Achuthanandan for now. But then who knows something may crop up like new revelations in Lavalin investigation.
V S is lucky, he can continue as Chief Minister, lame-duck or otherwise, even when there was near-total rout in the Lok Sabha elections. In Congress, A.K.Antony had not got that benefit when he was Chief Minister.
The support he gets from the people is nothing but mob hysteria for the time being. Once he is out of power positions, the mob would not continue to follow him on a decisive level.
Among the hard-core party cadres, his support is minimal. And the minimum support base may further erode once he finds himself out of the party.
Age and health factors do not favour an aggressive posture being successful on his part. There has been a rule that those who complete 80 years of age should be kept out of the politburo. Achuthanandan is past 80. He may not find himself within the PB again.
The pity is that in the party hierarchy within the Cabinet, Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan remains a PB member and Chief Minister Achuthanandan out of it. The stance of Kodiyeri should have an upper hand, in the normal course.
Some of the staunchest supporters of VS had not kept up the momentum or looked askance at him these days.
Minister S.Sharma today met the Chief Minister at Cliff House and urged him not to go in for drastic action. It seems he urged the CM to wait and watch and then take a decision.
Minister P.K.Gurudasan had been a staunch supporter earlier. But these days he has not been that keen. Once he told the state committee VS should be unburdened of the heavy weight of many responsibilities.
Many of his supporters among the second or third rung leadership would not be with him if he decides to part ways. In fact, there may not be a single leader to be with him, when he is out.
As for media support, it is the most ephemeral thing one can bank on. Media hoopla is nothing but monkeying around a person and an issue. There is no fixity. They jump from one issue to another.
Politicians may be insincere, but media, ie the fourth estate, are worse, they don’t care a bit about eternal wedlock with a person or issue.
It is a slippery slope for V.S.Achuthanandan for now. But then who knows something may crop up like new revelations in Lavalin investigation.
V S is lucky, he can continue as Chief Minister, lame-duck or otherwise, even when there was near-total rout in the Lok Sabha elections. In Congress, A.K.Antony had not got that benefit when he was Chief Minister.
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