CM Vijayan continues to reign supreme as CPI-M gears up for Kerala state conference
Kollam (Kerala): On the eve of the four-day CPI-M state party conference that opens here on Thursday, the talk of the town in Kerala’s erstwhile cashew capital is how Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan continues unquestioned to maintain his prime position.
The question of whether Vijayan, who turns 80 in a few months, will be leading the party in the 2026 Assembly polls, has already been answered by the CPI-M which maintains that he has “been given an exemption and once it’s given, there is no need to review it, every now and then”.
Incidentally, the CPI-M, a few years back, had imposed an age restriction that all those who attain the age of 75 will have to bow out from all posts and will no longer be given a ticket to contest elections.
But five years back, the party gave an exemption to Vijayan and hence at the four-day party conference, it will be Vijayan’s will that prevails as no one will have the courage to speak out against him.
A political observer, on condition of anonymity, said that a few CPI-M leaders, when asked if Vijayan would continue and lead his party at the next elections, replied that who else was there?
“The CPI-M has undergone radical changes in its outlook and conduct and that’s why Vijayan remains unchallenged either in the Left Democratic Front or in the CPI-M, as all knows the consequence of even uttering a word for the fear of being eased out. If it was the yesteryear’s CPI-M, his son-in-law P.A. Mohammed Riyas, a first-time legislator in 2021, would never have been made a minister. Everyone knows what’s happening in the present-day CPI-M, but no one will ever raise even a question,” the observer said.
With the CPI-M being literally wiped out in erstwhile bastions like West Bengal and Tripura, none even in the Politburo from other states will speak against Vijayan, due to his dominance in the last state in the party’s kitty.
Incidentally, the reason why Vijayan continues to be the unquestionable leader is that he not only knew all who mattered in the party when he was the party’s state Secretary from 1998 to 2015, but also, he was largely instrumental in weeding out any leader who aligned with party veteran and former Chief Minister V.S.Achuthanandan, who was the last person to have locked horns with Vijayan but also had to beat a hasty retreat in 2016.
In 2016, Achuthanandan was the Leader of the Opposition and when the party under Vijayan decided to keep him out of the elections, it led to a public outcry. The party, like in 2011, had to bend and allow him to contest.
“Not only did he contest in 2016, he, as always, was the star campaigner with every Left candidate keeping the veteran’s picture in every election poster, while Vijayan’s picture went missing in many places. Finally after leading the Left to a win, despite the best efforts of Achuthanandan, Vijayan was made the Chief Minister. To keep Achuthanandan placated, he was given a Cabinet post as the Chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission,” the observer noted.
Now all eyes will be on the constitution of the state Secretariat and the state Committee of the Kerala unit of the CPI-M which will happen on Saturday and once that’s done, it will again show the dominance of Vijayan as the two bodies are set to have only his closest aides as members.