Gorbachev’s Rival Dropped From Politburo

Grigory V. Romanov, once the chief rival of Communist Party leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, was dropped Monday from the ruling Politburo in another display of Gorbachev’s firm control of the Kremlin leadership.

Romanov, 62, also lost his post as one of the party’s powerful nine secretaries who serve under Gorbachev, the general secretary.

His replacement as a full member of the 13-man Politburo is Eduard A. Shevardnadze, 57-year-old leader in the Soviet Republic of Georgia, an ally of Gorbachev’s. Shevardnadze, who had been a candidate (non-voting) member since 1978, has earned a reputation as a stern disciplinarian who cracked down on the endemic corruption in Georgia.

His elevation is expected to reinforce Gorbachev’s drive to root out inefficiency and other obstacles hampering the Soviet economy.

Two other men believed to be Gorbachev allies--Lev N. Zaikov, 62, who succeeded Romanov as Leningrad party chief in 1983, and Boris N. Yeltsin, 52, an industrial construction specialist and party leader in Sverdlovsk--were named party secretaries.

One filled the post vacated by Romanov, the other took over Gorbachev’s post as secretary, vacated when Gorbachev became party leader. It was not disclosed which of the new men will take over Romanov’s secretarial responsibilities covering heavy and defense industries.

Gorbachev’s Stamp

Monday’s moves follow the elevation of three Gorbachev associates to the Politburo in mid-April, expanding its membership to 13.

“All the changes seem to have Gorbachev’s stamp on them,” a senior analyst at a major Western embassy said. “He is moving very fast for someone who has been in power for less than four months.”

Gorbachev became party leader upon the death of Konstantin U. Chernenko in March. He is expected to be named to Chernenko’s post as president at a meeting today of the Supreme Soviet, the country’s nominal parliament. Monday’s changes were approved by the 300-member party Central Committee.

Romanov’s removal from the Politburo and the party secretary post was announced by the Tass news agency. It said he was retired, at his own request, for unspecified health reasons. Western diplomats noted, however, that Soviet tradition indicated that he was ousted, since members of the ruling body almost never leave it except when they are forced out or die.

Romanov, a Politburo insider since 1973, has not been seen in public for seven weeks. While he has no obvious health problems, Western diplomats said that he has a reputation as a heavy drinker.

Promoted Heavy Industry

Romanov was regarded as a hard-line champion of Soviet military supremacy with strong anti-Western views. In Leningrad, he promoted heavy industry, partly at the expense of the consumer sector.

During Chernenko’s 13-month tenure as party chief, Romanov was considered as Gorbachev’s chief rival to succeed the ailing leader, who died at the age of 73. However the Politburo chose Gorbachev as the new party chief several hours after Chernenko’s death.

Shevardnadze, one of the youngest party members to be appointed to the Politburo, became first secretary of the party in Georgia in 1972, at a time of a resurgence of corruption in the republic.

Holding at the same time the rank of general in the police, Shevardnadze dismissed scores of officials in a campaign based on “an uncompromising struggle against such negative phenomena as money-grubbing, bribe-taking, misappropriation of socialist property tendencies, theft and other deviations from the norms of Communist morality.”