New Delhi, March 21: Prakash Karat is facing his first serious challenge as CPM general secretary with comrades in his home state of Kerala locked in a faction feud when Assembly elections are round the corner.

Karat himself is in charge of Kerala, where CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and veteran leader V.S. Achuthanandan are caught in a power struggle.

After a seven-hour meeting today, the politburo did not appear to have succeeded in brokering even a temporary truce.

At the end of the politburo meeting, Karat met the media briefly in the evening and issued a statement which indicated that the politburo has not been able to resolve the crisis.

“The politburo took stock of the situation in Kerala in connection with the forthcoming Assembly elections. The politburo discussed how the party should unitedly face the elections so that the Left Democratic Front can be victorious,” Karat said.

Had the matter been resolved, Karat could have said the party “will” unitedly go into the polls and that Achuthanandan will lead the campaign.

Even as the politburo session was on, a handful of Achuthanandan’s supporters waved the party flag outside the CPM headquarters, shouting: “VS, our commander, people in Kerala are with you. They want you to lead the campaign.”

Achuthanandan, the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, has been left out of the candidate list for next month’s elections. The omission prompted Achuthanandan’s supporters to circulate SMS messages, emails and leaflets condemning the Vijayan faction.

This is the first time the CPM central leadership is having to contend with defiant dissidents who are washing dirty linen in public.

The politburo has decided to meet members of the CPM state committee on Thursday to “ensure that the party’s decisions are fully implemented”. This could be a warning to Achuthanandan.

The CPM leadership is worried that the faction fight, if allowed to drag on, could erode the Left Front’s prospects at the hustings. Till a few months ago, the Left was considered a sure-fire winner.