KOZHIKODE: Till the counting of votes started on the morning of May 4, CPM strongman Pinarayi Vijayan was the hero of hardcore party workers, who reposed an unreasonable faith in him and expected a miracle from the leader to return the LDF to power for a third consecutive time. They could hardly believe the television news flashes which showed that the ‘invincible’ Pinarayi was trailing a political novice in his home turf of Dharmadam in the initial rounds of counting.
The Pyrrhic victory—with a much-reduced margin and a washout of the CPM in party strongholds—has hugely dented Pinarayi’s image of a ‘captain who can steer the ship even in troubled waters’. Now, he is seen as a tragic figure who is presiding over a party that is increasingly on the back foot in electoral politics in the country.
The downfall was in the offing, as evident from the results of a series of elections in Kerala in the past few years. But Pinarayi and his team ignored all the warning signals and chose to live in a make-believe world created by sycophants who gathered around power centres.
There were reports that Pinarayi firmly believed he would return to power because that was the input given by the coterie. That shows the gravity of the disconnect he had with ground reality, something unimaginable for a communist leader. Having entered public life through student politics, Pinarayi had an eventful political career.
He became a Kannur district committee member at 24 and was inducted into the district secretariat at 28. He was among the CPM leaders who faced unspeakable torture in police custody during the Emergency in 1975-77.
His detractors saw dangerous signs in Pinarayi shortly after he was elevated to the post of state secretary in 1998. His opponents within the party accused him of taking a ‘right deviation’ and concentrating all power in one person. His enemies rallied behind fellow comrade V S Achuthanandan but Pinarayi outwitted all opposition and emerged victorious within the party.
The party and the government tended to revolve around Pinarayi after he became the chief minister in 2016. All voices of dissent were systematically silenced and people handpicked by Pinarayi were given posts in the party and administration. Loyalty to Pinarayi thus became the sole criterion for any consideration at all levels.
Sycophancy crossed all limits when a Thiruvathira song was composed eulogising the ‘the leader who was responsible for spreading the prestige of the party everywhere’. And Pinarayi never discouraged this tendency and seems to have enjoyed the hero-worship, something uncharacteristic in a communist party.
The result was a total alienation of ordinary party workers, who were denied an opportunity to express their grievances in party forums, from the leadership. And they saw this election as a chance to register their protest, which cost the party dear.
What will the future course be for the tallest CPM leader in the country after the severe drubbing at the hustings? Will he don the mantle of the leader of a truncated opposition in the House? A chilling winter seems to be awaiting the patriarch who is entering the twilight of his political career.
State president and secretary of Kerala Students Federation
State secretary of Kerala Socialist Youth Federation
CPM state secretariat member in 1988
MLA in 1970, 1977, 1991, 1996, 2016 and 2021
Minister for Electricity in 1996
CPM state secretary in 1998
Politburo member from 2002