Suspension of VS, Pinayari revoked

In a significant development the CPI-M on Monday revoked the suspension of Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan and his archrival Pinayari Vijayan from membership of the Politburo. The party central committee (CC) suspended them four months ago for violating party norms.

The decision to lift the suspension was taken by CC on Sunday evening but endorsed on Monday, the last day of the session.

Although party general secretary Prakash Karat claimed they were taken back as the CC felt that during this period their performance upheld the spirit of the CC, CPI-M sources said it was a move to put the Kerala house in order in view of the crisis in the UPA over the nuclear agreement with USA.