Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member V S Achuthanandan is expected to be named as the party's chief ministerial candidate in Kerala.
The CPM-led Left Democratic Front won the Assembly elections with a two-third majority.
Achuthanandan was the central figure in the election arena.
According to party sources, the politburo will be meeting on May 13 in New Delhi to make its choice on the issue, report it to the state leadership on May 14 and get the decision formalised by the state committee on May 15.
Though the CPM in Kerala is still faction-ridden, Achuthanandan's detractors know that the party will have to face serious consequences if they sideline the senior leader once again.
The CPM central leadership, which through a rare but stern intervention reversed the decision of the state secretariat controlled by Kerala unit secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to keep Achuthanandan off the electoral fray, is also aware that the mass appeal of the party stalwart was a major factor that worked for the LDF's sterling performance.
Ironically, the poll-eve twists and turns in the party boosted the image of Achuthanandan significantly, as was evident from the huge crowds he drew and the high ratings scored in poll surveys.
Making it to the top slot would be the culmination of a long-drawn struggle for Achuthanandan and his supporters in the party.
He missed the chief ministerial post narrowly in 1996 when he lost the election in his home ground in Mararikkulam, allegedly due to machinations by rival within the party.
He also suffered a rude jolt in the party elections last year when the Vijayan faction thwarted his bid to seize control of the party state committee and secretariat.
It was the decisive majority enjoyed by Vijayan and his lieutenants in the secretariat that emboldened the faction to deny a party ticket to Achuthandandan, ignoring even the sentiments of the state committee.
However, the mass reaction against that decision was beyond the imagination of the party bosses.
Though dubbed by his detractors as a doctrinaire Marxist unfit for the times, Achutanandan, as the opposition leader in the last five years, has endeared himself to the people by his strong espousal of a host of issues, from environmental concerns to sexual exploitation of women.
The verdict also deflected the United Democratic Front charge that with his 'old-world ideas' Achuthandnan would prove a hindrance to the state's fast-track development.
Known for his stern positions on issues, political observers feel that once be becomes chief minister, Achuthanandan would have to be a bit flexible on issues of governance as well as party matters.
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