Kerala Chief Minister and Communist Party of India - Marxist veteran V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday got into trouble over his comment about his opponent and Congress leader in Malampuzha segment Lathika Subhash.Subhash moved the Election Commission and court against him for making a 'defamatory' remark against her.The row was sparked by Achuthanandan's comment at a press meet in Palakkad on Tuesday when he said, "They are famous, and, if you inquire, you will know why."
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday refuted the Congress charge as 'baseless' that her party had not fielded a candidate against Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in the April 13 assembly elections as part of a secret pact with the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Sunday alleged that the Congress-led United Democratic Front Opposition was hatching a conspiracy to create violence during the coming assembly polls and the death of five Indian Union Muslim League activists engaged in making bombs was an indication of that.
Realising a dream project, the Kerala government on Wednesday signed an agreement with its Dubai-based promoters for setting up the Smart City IT project at a 246-acre plot in Kochi.
The Kerala government on Thursday ordered a vigilance probe into the charges of amassing disproportionate wealth by P V Sreenijan, son-in-law of former Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan. According to official sources, the order was issued by Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, based on the recommendation to conduct such a probe against Sreenijan by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan has ordered a probe into the complaint filed by one Shameer from Mattanchery, Kochi against PV Sreenijan, the son-in-law of Justice KG Balakrishnan, the former Chief Justice of India, for allegedly amassing property at worth Rs 7 crore in the last four years.
Led by CPI-M stalwart, 87-year-old V S Achuthanandan, the LDF succeeded in staving off the anti-incumbency trend against the government, which was reflected in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls and civic elections last year, in which the UDF had stolen march over the Left front.
Chairman of the Kerala Congress-B, R Balakrishna Pillai, who is serving a year's rigorous imprisonment in the Idamalayar hydel project corruption case, was given a ten-day parole by the state government on health grounds.
State government and the investment partner of the project was on a dispute over 'free hold land' issue.
His own party -- the Communist Party of India Marxist -- might have sidelined him. But V S Achuthanandan -- the octogenarian chief minister of Kerala, has eventually found a place in the international arena of communism.And Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee -- once the 'poster boy' of communist governance in a capitalist society -- will miss a chair as his party organises the 11th Communist and Workers Parties International Meeting to discuss a rescue path from the financial crisis.
The rise of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan after last week's dramatic developments in Communist Party of India-Marxist as the undisputed captain of Left Democratic Front in the April 13 assembly polls in Kerala once again is expected to make the contest tougher for Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The Communist Party of India - Marxist, the lead partner in the Left Democratic Front in Kerala has re-nominated 54 sitting members, including Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and eight ministers. But it has also included 30 new names as candidates for the April 13 elections to the state assembly. The 91-member list also includes 10 women and seven independents. The party nominated T K Gangadharan as the candidate for Mahe segment in Puducherry.
Bowing to public pressure, the Communist Party of India Marxist in Kerala on Friday reversed its decision to drop Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan from the candidates' list for the state assembly, bringing the party's most popular face to the poll arena to lead the Left Democratic Front for the polls on April 13. The dramatic U-turn came after the central leadership directed the state unit to revoke its decision, factoring in widespread protests from the party rank and file
Is the political class in Kerala being used as a springboard by extremist elements aiming to establish base in the state? The Nadapuram blast shockingly points out this trend, writes rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Thursday expressed his readiness to contest in the coming assembly election, if his party asked him to go for another electoral battle.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Monday said the issue of lack of coordination among government departments, raised by the Kerala high court in context of the Sabarimala stampede, will be brought within the ambit of the judicial probe into the tragedy."All these issues will be included in the ambit of judicial probe and the guilty will not be spared," he said when reporters sought his reaction to the strong observations made by the division bench of the high court.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Saturday announced a judicial inquiry into the stampede that claimed 104 lives at Pullumeduner on Friday night. Achuthanandan, who flew down by a helicopter to Kumali where the bodies of the victims were brought, also announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the family of each of the victims. The seriously injured would be given Rs 50,000 and those with minor injuries Rs 25,000.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will not attend the full session of the Communist Party of India(M) extended central committee meeting in Vijayawada. Bhattacharjee's move comes days after Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan's decision to stay away from the meet.
Kerala has never witnessed such a close call in assembly elections in its history, as it did this year. It was indeed a photo finish between the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the Communist party of India-Marxist led Left Democratic Front today. It was like a thrilling Twenty20 match with one batsman pitching in with a spectacular performance. The LDF has managed to win as many as 68 seats, against 72 of the UDF, only because of the goodwill of V S Achuthanandan.
'People resent the fact that idiotic policies set by the Left Front -- banning English from primary schools, hampering the installation of computers -- have left them behind applicants from other states in the race for jobs. Above all, they are tired of the corruption of the Left Front.'
Stepping up pressure on the Centre for a nationwide ban on endosulfan pesticide, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Monday began a day-long fast in Thiruvananthapuram along with peoples' representatives, political leaders and civil rights activists to press for the demand.
In a quick chat with rediff.com's Shobha Warrier before he started his campaign in Palakkad, VS claims that all is well between him and Vijayan.
The political rhetoric of Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was not going to help the ruling Left Democratic Front in its 'losing battle' for the assembly polls as people of Kerala were keen on a change of rule, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy said on Monday.
The total income of the 87-year-old leader, who entered the fray from Malampuzha segment on Thursday, was shown as Rs 3,43,994 as per the income tax returns filed for 2009-10.
Union Power Minister S K Shinde will declare Palakkad as the country's first district where all houses have electric connection on February 16.
The Supreme Court today directed Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and the state government to produce before it "necessary material" relating to a case of alleged corruption involving former state Power Minister R Balakrishna Pillai of Congress.
The Kerala Government will look into demands for changing the official spelling of the state to 'Keralam' to make it conform to the way it is pronounced in Malayalam, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told the Assembly on Wednesday.
The two day Communist Partyof India-Marxist state committee meeting which is significant after the Polibureau decision of demoting the octogenarian leader and Chief Minister of Kerala ,V S Achuthanandan from the party polibureau will begin in Thiruvananthpuram on Tuesday.
Apparently embarrassed by a Lashkar-e-Tayaiba terror suspect's alleged links with Abdul Naseer Madani-led Peoples Democratic Party, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said on Wednesday that the Communist Party of India-Marxist, which had "cooperation" with it in Lok Sabha polls, will not have any truck with such outfits in future.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday said that he is deeply pained that a controversy has been raked up over his visit to slain National Security Guard commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan's house in Bangalore.Speaking in the state assembly, he said certain remarks were attributed to him and people have been misled by this.Achuthanandan made the statement in the Assembly during the Zero Hour, after the opposition United Democratic Front members raised the issue.
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.
Union Minister of state for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday dismissed as "unfounded and misleading" the charges by Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan who had accused him of using public platforms to deride the Left Democratic Front government in the state.
A local court in Kerala's Alappuzha has issued an arrest warrant against Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in connection with a defamation case filed against the Communist Party of India-Marxist organ 'Desabhimani' in 2004, when he was its chief editor.
Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, who is also a member of the Communist Party of India Marxist politburo, has openly come out against the CPI-M's stance on People's Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani .The veteran leader, while fielding questions at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram, said that the government would investigate whether any cases were pending against Madani. An unabashed Madani welcomed the chief minister's statement.
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.
The government has informed the Dubai-based Tecom authorities about the steps taken so far in this regard and that it was prepared to hold talks with the firm, chief minister V S Achuthanandan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Election Commission on Friday rebuffed Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan for his reported statement that central police force (CPF) personnel would be confined to barracks during by-polls to three assembly seats in the state tomorrow.
The Communist Party of India Marxist has expelled A P Abdullakutty, its sitting Member of Parliament from Kannur, who has been at loggerheads with the party's district and state leadership.Abdullakutty was first elected to the Parliament in 1999, at the age of 28, while he was the state president of the Students Federation of India.Abdullakutty has been having problems with the party's state leadership due to his reported closeness to Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.
Action against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was decided well before the trust vote, but was not announced lest it should affect discussion over issues that prompted the party to withdraw support to the UPA Government, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said.
Heavy security arrangements have been made in connection with the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Kannur on Thursday to declare open the Indian Navy's Ezhimala Naval Academy. Arriving at Karipur airport in Kozhikode from Chennai, the Prime Minister will reach Ezhimala on Thursday afternoon and reach the venue 'Nalanda' at 2.45 pm.
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