It is learnt that the Politburo was divided on the SNC Lavalin case, in which Vijayan is a co-accused, with some members arguing that the party should reexamine its stand. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat’s suggestion that action should be taken against VS for defying the party line met with stiff resistance from some members who argued that he should not be singled out. At least four members — including Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Sitaram Yechury and M K Pandhe — opposed Karat’s suggestion.

The party’s Kerala committee had earlier held that the Chief Minister was responsible for the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections and several members had been seeking action against him.

Sources said that Karat’s view was that Vijayan should not step down, as the party has already taken a stand that the case was politically motivated. Achuthanandan, however, refused to budge and stuck to his demand that Vijayan should be removed from the post of state secretary.

The Central Committee will now look into the “proposals” put forward by the Politburo and take a decision on mainly two questions — whether to take disciplinary action against the Chief Minister, and should there be a re-think on the stand taken in the Lavalin case and if so, whether Vijayan should step down.

The Politburo discussed the “organisational issues related to the Kerala state unit of the party (and) decided to convene a meeting of the Central Committee on July 11-12 to consider the proposals of the Politburo regarding the party affairs in Kerala,” a statement at the end of the two-day meeting said.

It is learnt that the proposals include action against some senior members from Kerala for indulging in factionalism, as well as changes in the state committee and secretariat.

The Politburo’s decision to leave the matter to the Central Committee is an indication that the party was bracing for some tough decisions to finally end the factional feud in Kerala. It is very rare for the Politburo to fail to arrive at a decision as it can go for a vote if there are serious differences. In 1996, when the Politburo was divided on the issue of making Jyoti Basu the Prime Minister, it had referred the matter to the Central Committee.