The many survivals of a communist chief minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Pinarayi Vijayan is a polarising figure in Kerala politics. His admirers dote on their 'Captain' for giving firm leadership to the state. For his detractors, Vijayan is 'Mundudutha Modi' (dhoti-wearing Modi), someone who has failed to take everyone along. The divergent emotions notwithstanding, both friends and foes admire the septuagenarian Marxist from Kannur for his ability to survive and fight another day. 

Ranging from his office’s alleged links to gold and dollar smuggling and the business deals of his entrepreneur daughter to the latest charge of his nexus with RSS-BJP, the CPM leader has so far survived a barrage of allegations after ascending the CM post eight years ago. Thanks to his firm grip over the party, which he gained in the last two and a half decades, Pinarayi, as he is popularly known, continues to remain in the driving seat.

The shrewd politician had designed the Left front’s return to power for a second consecutive term in 2021, unheard of in Kerala’s political history since the state’s formation in 1957. 

Rise from Left bastion

With the Left’s influence waning across the country, Vijayan has become the lone CPM chief minister, a feat that has allowed him to gain some supremacy in his party at the national level.

A native of Pinarayi in CPM’s stronghold Kannur, Vijayan was born to Maroli Koran, a toddy tapper, and Alakkatt Kalyani in 1945. Vijayan entered active politics while pursuing graduation at Government Brennen College in Thalassery and joined the CPM in 1964. 

In the early stages of his political career, Vijayan shepherded the Kerala Students’ Federation and the Kerala State Youth Federation, before SFI and DYFI were formed at the national level.

Once considered a loyalist of veteran communist leader VS Achuthanandan, Vijayan became the CPM state secretary at a time when the party’s state apparatus was facing intense factionalism and stayed in the post for 17 years even as he stepped out of the shadow of his mentor.

In 1970, at the age of 25, he was elected to the Kerala Assembly from Koothuparamba and became the youngest person to be elected as an MLA in Kerala. He represented the same constituency in 1977 and 1991, but also won from Payyannur in 1996, and from Dharmadam in 2016 and 2021.

During the Emergency, like many communist leaders, Vijayan, too, was jailed. His return to the assembly in 1977 was marked by a fiery speech brandishing his blood-stained clothes against police torture.

Emerging unscathed 

The communist leader debuted as minister in 1996 in the E K Nayanar government as power and cooperation minister. But he stepped down in 1998 to take over the CPM state secretary post following the death of Chadyan Govindan.

Even though Vijayan was much praised for initiating various measures to enhance power generation in the state, the short term as minister left a long-lasting scar on his profile owing to the SNC Lavalin case — alleged corruption in the deal with a Canadian firm for maintenance of three power generators. Vijayan faced a CBI probe and it would become a bone of contention between him and his mentor VS.

Vijayan’s attempts to sideline VS and assume CM post did not fructify till age caught up with the veteran. The two even faced suspension from the CPM politburo over their feud. 

After a CBI special court in Thiruvananthapuram discharged him from the SNC Lavalin case in 2013, Vijayan emerged as the undisputed CM candidate when the CPM won the 2016 assembly elections.  

The allegation of gold-dollar smuggling involving the UAE consulate officials  and the chief minister’s office was a major scandal that hit his first term as chief minister. Central agencies even arrested his secretary M Sivasanakar and put many under scanner in connection with the case. But Vijayan’s social engineering helped in developing a good rapport with minority community leaders, which helped the Left front to retain power in the 2021 election by winning 99 seats, an impressive increase from the 91 seats in 2016. 

It was not just social engineering that helped the party win the 2021 polls. Vijayan’s daily hour-long press briefing for several weeks during the Covid-19 spread in Kerala, which was termed by his critics as a PR exercise, helped in boosting the CM’s image in the run up to the election.

His strictness, or adamancy as critics call it, often faces criticism, which has become louder following the party’s recent Lok Sabha poll rout in the state. However, the CM is not giving away any signs of change, encouraging many youngsters in the party to follow the same ‘Pinarayi line’. 

Latest salvo

The allegation of his nexus with the RSS and top BJP leadership, which was fueled by the recent charges of disgruntled CPM-backed MLA P V Anvar, has given fresh ammunition to opposition Congress which has been claiming a quid pro quo between the BJP and Vijayan, vis-à-vis safeguarding the CM from probe by central agencies.    

Anvar had attacked ADGP Ajith Kumar for ‘secretly’ meeting senior RSS leaders and alleged that the IPS officer was behind the chaos during the famous Thrissur Pooram, which, according to Congress, was the key reason for the BJP’s Lok Sabha victory in Thrissur. Handling the Home portfolio, Vijayan was reluctant to act against his trusted ADGP. 

More than a decade ago, during his feud with VS, Vijayan used to speak in length against the rising cult of personality in the party. Once he even reminded VS, indirectly, that the strength of a communist leader was the party and if the leader was alone it would be like a bucket of water from the sea that didn’t have waves.

Fast forward to 2024, Vijayan is building defences around him using the party. While the CPM wants its leaders above 75 years to hang their boots, it remains a question whether, at 79, Vijayan will wage another battle when his term ends in 2026.