Sitaram Yechury sings unity tune to Kerala unit

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM central leadership has asked the state unit of the party to fight the forthcoming crucial Assembly elections unitedly to ensure the victory of LDF.

The two-day secretariat meeting attended by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, politburo members Prakash Karat and S Ramachandran Pillai discussed the prevailing political situation in the state and the prospects of the party in different districts besides the broader issues related to LDF allies.

Though detailed discussions on the candidates will continue on Saturday and subsequently at the state committee meeting on Sunday, some of suggestions and concerns expressed by district committees over norms finalised for candidate selection came up for discussions. 

The issue of having more secretariat members and district secretaries in electoral battle is still open. The secretariat had earlier decided to put in place specific norms like permitting only less than half of secretariat members to contest polls, keep out district secretaries and ensure at least one woman candidate in each district.

Sources said CPM would not go by the norms strictly considering the importance of the polls. Exemptions would be granted to secretariat members, district secretaries considering winnablity factor and wider acceptability of these leaders among the masses.

There is a view in the party that senior leaders who have good  chances of pulling off a victory, should not be kept out of the contest especially considering the high stakes.

The PB decision on fielding both Pinarayi Vijayan and V S Achuthanandan will also come up for detailed discussions at the meeting. The contentious issue of who will lead the campaign would also be deliberated.

While the CPM central leadership has made it clear that the issue of chief minister would be discussed only after the polls should the LDF win, the question as to who will lead the campaign will have to be decided prior to the polls to avoid confusion among cadres, supporters and the general public .

A detailed discussion on Achuthandan issue is likely to be held on Saturday.  Since most political parties including those in the UDF have deferred their seat sharing and candidate finalisation exercise to next week, the CPM has got enough time to finalise its candidates and poll strategy.