Thiruvananthapuram, Feb. 21: The CPM in Kerala limped into an unprecedented crisis today after veteran leader V.S. Achuthanandan walked out of the party's state conference in Alappuzha district as differences with long-time rival Pinarayi Vijayan reached a flashpoint.

VS, as Achuthanandan is popularly known, left the venue in a huff soon after the customary discussions on the party secretary's report began.

The delegates, most of whom are loyalists of state unit secretary Vijayan, were learnt to have demanded stern action against VS on the basis of the report that, sources said, listed the former chief minister's alleged violations of party discipline.

Speculation was rife whether VS, one of the founding members of the CPM, may have made up his mind to leave the party or if his indiscretion would now attract disciplinary action.

Central leaders, including general secretary Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury and S. Ramachandran Pillai, were learnt to be firefighting as any crisis now, at a time the party's voter base is