After being censured by his party's Central Committee for defying the official line on the Kudankulam nuclear power plant issue, CPI(M) veteran V S Achuthanandan has also come under sharp attack in the Kerala unit of the party for openly taking divergent stands on some vital issues.

According to party sources, the 88-year-old leader faced sharp criticism in the CPI(M) state committee meeting held yesterday for pledging open support to the agitation demanding closure of the nuclear energy plant and even making an attempt to visit Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.

Many of those in the committee also found fault with the senior leader for comparing the party state secretary Pinarayi Vjayan to S A Dange, who presided over the split in the undivided CPI in 1964.

A founder leader of the CPI(M) and a former Chief Minister, Achuthanandan has been censured by party Central Committee twice in last three months, over the "Dange" remark and the Kudankulam issue.

While the CPI(M) disagrees with the anti-nuclear energy campaigners' demand for closing down the Kudankulam plant, Achuthanandan had often stated openly that he firmly believed that nuclear plants are dangerous anywhere in the world.

Though he had refrained from openly commenting on the Central Committee meeting's decision to censure him over the issue, Achuthandnan had so far declined to acknowledge that he had committed any error.