Veteran Communist leader and former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, one of the most popular and crowd-puller leaders in the history of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist in the state, turned 100 on Friday.
Shell-shocked by its dismal performance in the state assembly elections, the Communist Party of India-Marxist will soon hold a Politburo meeting to consider the reasons behind its massive debacle.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist has decided to support the Telugu Desam Party in the Assembly byelections in Andhra Pradesh, except in the four constituencies being contested by the Left parties. The party however said this alliance would stand only for the bye-polls and did not extend to general elections to the Assembly and Lok Sabha.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Monday congratulated its Himachal Pradesh unit for its "historic win" in the mayoral elections in Shimla. In direct elections, CPI-M nominees trounced Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor of Shimla.
It was almost sure Amitabh Bachchan would soon be the brand ambassador for the Kerala tourism. But there is a Marxian twist in the tale.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Monday dismissed reports that it had decided to initiate disciplinary action against Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan for approaching the Centre for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the lottery issue without taking the party leadership into confidence.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday expelled Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who defied the party's order to resign from his post and presided over the two-day trust vote debate.
The split in the Kerala Communist party of India - Marxist grew wider on Wednesday, with Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan defying the politburo line on Governor R S Gavai's decision to give sanction to prosecute Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in a corruption case, saying it neither shocked nor surprised him.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 farmers' unions, on Friday urged agriculturists and other people of West Bengal not to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections.
The CPI-M leader was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2011.
The politics of Communist Party of India-Marxist in Kerala has turned murkier after the CPI-M politburo giving total support to the tainted party secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
The CPI-M leader was fluent in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Bangla, and also Malayalam. He was also well-versed in Hindu mythology, and often used those references in his speeches especially to attack the BJP.
Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday urged President Pranab Mukherjee to decide whether West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan's "political interventions" in seeking an apology from the party politburo for the Delhi incident, involving Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was justified.
The announcement was made after AICC general secretary Ajoy Kumar held a meeting with CPI-M state secretary Jitendra Choudhury on Friday evening.
Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury rubbished Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's charge that Maoists and Marxists were two sides of the same coin and said she had no knowledge of communist movements in the country.
Terming the rise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the helm would be a disaster for communal harmony, Communist Party of India (Marxist) politburo member Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee alleged that Trinamool Congress was also trying to hitch an alliance once again with the BJP.
Leading the party in the state since 1998, the re-election of the 67-year-old leader again demonstrated his hold on CPI(M), which often in the past passed through grim phases of factional trend involving him and former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
Cracking the whip, Communist Party of India-Marxist on Wednesday removed its Idukki district secretary M M Mani from his post for his controversial speech that the party had eliminated political foes in the past, which had embarrassed the organisation and invited an all round condemnation.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist asked the Congress to take the initiative in building a consensus on the candidate for the presidential election though it indicated it was not averse to supporting either Vice President Hamid Ansari or Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the post.
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Saturday said the classified American cables released by Wikileaks showed the 'complicity' of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering United States's 'imperialist' interests. "As the Wikileaks cables from around the world have shown, the United States pursues single-mindedly its imperialist interests. The unfortunate part is the complicity of the Manmohan Singh government in furthering some of these interests, CPI-M said.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
Several women's rights activists, eminent citizens, intellectuals, writers and artistes had also penned an open letter to the chief justice demanding an apology and retraction of the remarks.
Hitting out at the United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party for the present stalemate in Parliament, the Communist Party of India-Marxist has said both did not want the truth about 'coalgate' to come out.
The veteran Communist Party of India-Marxist leader is likely to undergo a few tests later in the day, which will help in ascertaining the severity of the infection in his lungs that landed him in the hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Seeking the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yedyurappa, the Communist party of India-Marxist on Friday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party to take "full responsibility" for installing a government backed by the mining mafia.
The CPI-M on Monday admitted that some element of "alienation" and "anger" worked behind its drubbing in the recent West Bengal polls. Senior party politburo member Sitaram Yechury also did not rule out a change in the central leadership.
As a result of the government's policies, 'some big trading companies as well as hoarders are making huge profits while the income of common people is being looted through high prices,' the party's Politburo said.
In a fresh bid to end the Parliament deadlock, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will on Friday meet leaders of the Left Front and other non-Bharatiya Janata Party opposition parties. Communist Party of India - Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat, CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury and Janata Dal - United chief Sharad Yadav are among those who will attend the meeting.On Thursday, the Speaker met BJP leaders but failed to bridge the differences as they insisted on a JPC.
Just as political battles hot up along with rural polls in West Bengal, a certain report in the most circulated regional daily Anandabazar Patrika has caused major discomfort for the Left Front.
Alleging that the Chief Election Commissioner's controversial recommendation for removal of his colleague has eroded the credibility of the poll body, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday claimed the CEC himself has violated the independence of the Election Commission.
Condemning the Maoist attack in Dantewada which claimed 31 lives, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday asked the government to take necessary steps to counter the 'bankrupt' policies of the extremists to attack commoners.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Thursday termed as "unprecedented" the proposal to make Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a presidential candidate, saying it shows the lack of principles that ties the United Progressive Alliance coalition
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday finalised a plan to rectify the 'wrong trends' in the party under which guidelines were formulated for an austerity drive and to make its ministers more accountable.
Terming as "absurd" Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that West Bengal was among the worst governed states in the country, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday hit back at him saying he was part of a government presiding over the "most corrupt regime" in independent India.
The government has gone ahead with the move 'notwithstanding the widespread opposition' to FDI in multi-brand retail trade, the party said, adding it would wage struggles "to get this anti-national decision rescinded'.
"PM Narendra Modi yesterday in his broadcast to the nation claimed that there is normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and people are happy with the decision of abolition of article 370 and 35A.
Questioning the suggestion that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee should mediate between government and the Maoists, the Communist Party of India Marxist on Friday wondered how she could do that when she was 'openly siding' with the ultra-Left brigade.
Kerala Chief Minister and senior Communist Party of India - Marxist leader V S Achuthanandan will be removed from the party's politburo and the central committee, said sources in New Delhi. The octogenarian leader, who is currently in New Delhi, will leave for Kerala early on Sunday morning, said sources.Though some leaders from West Bengal had voiced their support for Achuthanandan, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat remained firm on taking action against the Kerala CM.
CPM said the Bofors gun deal was "an important case highlighting corruption in high places" and did not deserve such an end.
The Left parties attacked the government's policies and said the country was heading towards an economic emergency.
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