If Achuthanandan completely accepts the party’s disciplinary action, he will have to remain a chastened CM who is loyal to the party. Then, in the coming days, he will have to express this obedience by silently accepting the party’s Right-wing deviations and giving clearance to several controversial projects moved by business houses close to the rival group. The official faction has complained that the CM is the main hurdle on the road to several investment projects.

Another option is to come out of the party and continue the fight against the Lavalin scam and the Right-wing deviations of the party. A section of followers and the rebels expelled from the party want Achuthanandan to come out and lead the parallel Left movement, which is desperately looking for a crowd-puller.

Achuthanandan’s immediate reaction that he accepts the central committee decision, but at the same time will continue his fight against corruption, indicates that the rebel within the Marxist veteran is alive. In that case, he may further provoke the party by opposing its line and not mind inviting another round of disciplinary action.

His next approach towards the Lavalin case will also decide his existence within the party. The party has once again made it clear that the case is politically motivated and involves little corruption. If a doubting Achuthanandan wants to fight, he has no other option but to come out of the party. Fighting from within the party will mean another round of disciplinary action and even a complete ouster. In such a scenario, he will become the Communist martyr who was expelled from the party for having raised his voice against corruption. On the other hand, if he buries the Lavalin fight within the party, Achuthanandan will have to face the allegation that he was a power-hungry leader.

As of now, Achuthanandan has not divulged his future course of action. The central committee communiqué said the party “expects” him to continue as the CM. For the party state unit, living with Achuthanandan as the Chief Minister will be obviously uneasy. The estrangement between the party and the CM has gone far too deep. The state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan faction’s discomfiture over the ‘mild’ action against Achuthanandan will get reflected in the coming days. They will not rest from the efforts to see his back from the government. The party’s firm decision to shut the Lavalin case even as it is pending in the court will have a lasting impact in Kerala. As long as Vijayan is not cleared of the charges and continues at the party helm, the Lavalin will continue to haunt the Left in all elections to come. The Politburo stand on Lavalin has forced the public to doubt about the role of the central leadership in the case.

While tinkering with the compounded Kerala affairs, the central leadership has given due respects to the Left gallery behind the CM as well as the organisational clout of Vijayan. This balancing between the party mass and the machinery will give both factions enough space to welter in group politics in

the coming days.