After being kept away from the prized chief ministerial post and lying low since the new LDF government came into power a couple of months ago, V.S. Achuthanandan on Wednesday indirectly targeted Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by picking on a decision to remove a government counsel dealing with cases against land usurpers.
"Yes, I have written a letter to the Chief Minister, as government counsel Susheela Bhatt was removed from the post where she was doing a good job for long for the state government," Achuthanandan told reporters here.
Bhatt's removal has come for heavy criticism from several quarters as she was fighting cases for the state government against big estate owners who have been identified as usurping government land.
In another development, senior advocate M.K. Damodaran who refused to take up the post of advisor to the Chief Minister expressed his displeasure on Wednesday over a "conspiracy" regarding his appointment.
"Even the media -both print and TV- was unfair to me, hence I will not speak a word," Damodaran told media persons when asked why he did not take up the advisor's post.
Reacting to this, Achuthanandan, who does not enjoy the best of relations with Damodaran, said there is no reason to blame anyone.
"I dismiss his statements with utmost contempt," Achuthanandan told reporters.
The clash between Vijayan and Achuthanandan is more than a decade old and there were times when it caused huge embarrassment to the party, and on one occasion both were booted out of the politburo.
After a while, though Vijayan was reinstated, Achuthanandan was given the cold shoulder.
In the recent assembly polls, Achuthanandan turned out to be the most popular campaigner and was instrumental in the CPI-M's stunning victory. But he was left high and dry when it came to forming the government. Uncharacteristically, Achuthanandan has so far been keeping mum and on Wednesday it was the first time that he opened up.
His statements come a time when the assembly on Tuesday amended a 1951 rule, so as to enable him to take up the post of chairman of the Administrative Reforms Committee, which the party and state cabinet have cleared. He is however yet to make up his mind about taking up the assignment.