With a conflict as large and damaging as this one, repercussions were unavoidable. The CPM is besieged enough as it is, post-election and the unrest in West Bengal, and the first thing it needs to repair is the Kerala unit, at war with itself. As the party leadership met this week, it decided to staunchly defend Vijayan “politically and legally”, while letting Achuthanandan continue as CM and instructing cadre to facilitate the smooth running of his administration. Whether this spot of firm action will heal the breaches in Kerala remains to be tested — but meanwhile, the Achuthanandan case exemplifies the CPM’s larger dilemma: dealing with the rigid deadwood that both gets in its way and mirrors its own difficult accommodation with changed times.