KOCHI/KANNUR: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s image as the unchallenged ‘captain’ of the party and the government, which has been the catchword of the LDF campaign for the assembly elections, is facing serious challenge from within the party as the campaign is nearing conclusion. Senior leaders including Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, E P Jayarajan and P Jayarajan — all hailing from Pinarayi’s home turf — have aired their displeasure, though indirectly, against painting him as the sole leader.
In an interview, Kodiyeri had said that no one has been appointed as the ‘captain’ in the party. E P Jayarajan, who was considered the second-in-command in the government, had sarcastically said Pinarayi is a “great person possessing extraordinary energy” while announcing his exit from electoral politics.
The latest salvo is fired by P Jayarajan, the Kannur strongman who was denied a seat in this election. Borrowing the words of Kodiyeri, Jayarajan said the party is the captain and all are comrades in the organisation. In a Facebook post that appeared in his official page on Saturday, he said it is the party and the Left that evoke people’s trust, not any individual.
P Jayarajan’s remarks remind the political observers of the famous remark Pinarayi made at the CPM meeting in Thiruvananthapuram during the heydays of factionalism in the party. Indirectly referring to his archrival V S Achuthanandan’s popularity, Pinarayi quoted the anecdote of a child who was frustrated to see that there are no waves in the water he collected in a bucket from the sea. Pinarayi said the water has strength only when it is part of the dynamic sea.
In the post, Jayarajan said people will show different forms of admiration when leaders are close to them. “Some will write songs, some will keep the leader’s photograph and others will do tattooing. But communists do not get immersed in the glorification of the individual,” he said. The post, giving Pinarayi the taste of his own medicine, points to the growing disenchantment in the party in Kannur against the “authoritarian trend” in the chief minister’s way of functioning, though it has not yet snowballed into an open rebellion.
‘Captain refers to leadership abilities of CM’
Pinarayi too has leaders to defend him. CPM acting state secretary A Vijayaraghavan said the term ‘captain’ is a reference to the CM’s leadership abilities. CPM politburo member M A Baby said in an interview that though there is no hero worship in communist parties, some people will emerge in the minds of the people as their leader. “He has done commendable job while in government. So, it is natural that he appears prominently in campaigns,” he said.
Meanwhile, CPM’s political enemies have started searching ways to capitalise on the developments within the party. Congress working president K Sudhakaran said Pinarayi is getting confined to “myself and my son-in-law” attitude. Other leaders are being sidelined one by one, he said.