Kerala: Achuthanandan rejects party charge against personal aides

Thiruvananthapuram: In a virtual rejection of CPM state committee's charge against his three personal aides, party stalwart VS Achuthanandan asserted they had not done anything wrong warranting expulsion.

"My view is that they (personal staff) have not committed any mistake. I have conveyed this to the party's central committee," he said in reply to queries at a press meet in Thiruvananthapuram.

In what is widely seen as yet another move to further contain Achuthanandan, the CPM state committee, headed by his bete noire Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday decided to expel three members of his personal staff from the party on the charge of leaking out party information to the media.

The charge against his personal staff was that they had leaked contents of a review document prepared by the party state committee for internal circulation.

Those against whom the action had been proposed include Achuthanandan's Press Secretary K Balakrishnan, Personal Assistant A Suresh and Additional Private Secretary VK Sasidharan, who serve as his staff in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly.

Asked if he thought it was a move by his rival to weaken his functioning as opposition leader, Achuthanandan said, "I will take my work vigorously forward", adding, "you (media) cannot be faulted if you entertain such a doubt."

The charge against his personal staff was that they had leaked to the media contents of a review document prepared by the party state committee for internal circulation in 2008.

However, the decision has been kept in abeyance for the central committee's ratification as Achuthanandan objected to its implementation.

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