New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Sunday ended its two-day central committee meeting here to resolve the factional war in its Kerala unit, with speculation rife that Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan may be dropped from the politburo.
The chief minister, who attended the first day’s session Saturday, skipped Sunday’s meeting. A formal statement of the party’s decision is expected later in the day.

Achuthanandan and the powerful state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan have been at loggerheads for the past few months with the former demanding that Vijayan be removed from his post since he has been named an accused by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Rs.374 crore SNC Lavalin corruption case.

The Vijayan faction, in retaliation, has demanded that disciplinary action be taken against Achuthanandan for “violating party discipline”.

Party insiders fear that the CPI-M might split in Kerala if action is taken only against the chief minister.

The 85-member central committee meeting is being held after the party politburo met last week to discuss the Kerala issue. Twelve members of the committee are from Kerala.