 It was frequently rumoured that Lenin's intention was to install Rudzutaks as the new General Secretary.This story was mentioned in the memoirs of the Old Bolshevik Anastas Mikoyan, and in the novel "Children of the Arbat" by Anatoly Rybakov.It may be why Stalin removed him from the secretariat in May 1924, after Lenin's death, though he continued to hold high office, and backed Stalin against Trotsky and other opponents, including his former colleague, Tomsky.