The Deshabhimani daily, the official mouthpiece of the CPM in Kerala, abruptly halted and withdrew its scheduled weekend weekly supplement. The edition was heavily promoted as a special feature carrying a memoir dedicated to the late veteran communist leader and former state Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan.
The main attraction of this Sunday’s weekly edition was a special memoir written by V.S.’s former press secretary and his biographer, K.V. Sudhakaran. However, after the printing was completed, the Deshabhimani authorities decided at the last minute that this edition should not reach the readers.
While the publication officially cited “technical errors” for the last-minute decision, inside sources say that this action was taken because the supplement included a feature profile titled “Kallan Vijayan” (Thief Vijayan), a headline deemed politically sensitive due to its potential misinterpretation as a dig at former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The top leadership of the CPM feared that a prominent headline screaming “Kallan Vijayan” in the party’s official organ would be weaponised by political rivals or interpreted internally as a factional swipe at former CM Pinarayi Vijayan.