CPM drops Achuthanandan for Kerala polls

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: March 16, 2011 16:33 IST







Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/cpm-drops-achuthanandan-for-kerala-polls-92122?cp





Thiruvananthapuram: The Chief Minister of Kerala VS Achuthanandan will not contest the state elections, scheduled for April 13.



The Communist Party of India (Marxist), which is currently in power in Kerala, has decided that the state\'s Home Minister and CPM Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will lead the party for the elections.



Mr Achuthanandan is seen to be more popular among voters than he is within his party. In the last elections, he contested and won the Malampuzha assembly seat in the Palakkad district. Recently, the 87-year-old chief minister made it clear that he was willing to stand for elections again.



The party\'s central leadership had asked the state unit to decide on whether Mr Achuthanandan should be given a ticket.



The CPI(M) in Kerala has seen a bitter battle in the last few years between the chief minister and state secretary Pinaryi Vijayan, whose hold over the party has been increasing.








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