Did Vijayan’s over-projection prove his undoing? CPM begins analysis of Kerala debacle

NEW DELHI: As the left grapples with the severe setback it suffered in Kerala, the centralised leadership model described as ‘Brand Pinarayi’ and the poll campaign around it is under scrutiny, even as the party itself continues to hold there is no place within it for "cult politics" and the campaign was not a one-man show.

Party general secretary M A Baby said that the party is holding a preliminary review of the results on Wednesday and Thursday in the state capital. The result assessment at the Politburo and central committee meetings scheduled later this month will look at every factor ranging from organisational gaps to functioning of the govt.

Refuting the view that the the poll became a referendum on Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his style of governance, Baby claimed the LDF faced the polls as a “collective”, Vijayan was at the forefront and seen as the face of the party by people as he was a two term CM backed by 10 years of governance.

There is criticism from within that while the party focussed on highlighting its welfare credentials, it probably under-estimated the fallout of Congress’s accusation of a tacit CPM- BJP understanding which aided the consolidation of minority votes in favour of UDF.

The biggest concern now is the erosion of LDF’s presence in the House with the formation reduced to a mere 35 in an assembly where it won 94 seats in 2021. “In Kerala we have a vibrant organisation at every level and therefore a very thorough review based on feedback will be done,” sources said.

The perception of Vijayan being allowed a longer rope to steer the campaign defies the default ‘party before person’ mode in which CPM operates which was most starkly illustrated in 1996 when the central committee decided not to allow Jyoti Basu, then CM of West Bengal, to lead the United Front govt as Prime Minister.

The CPI(M) had then taken the position that the party felt that participating in a "bourgeoise" coalition govt at the Centre, without having a majority of its own, would prevent them from implementing left leaning policies.

While many seniors including then-general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet supported Basu, a powerful hardline faction within the party, voted against the move. While Basu at that stage accepted the party’s decision silently but he later cited it as a “historical blunder” and a missed opportunity for Indian communists to influence national politics.

However, sources in the party who saw the Basu era are quick to highlight that he was a taller leader than Pinarayi Vijayan and even the former was not allowed to breach the line by the central committee. The indications are clear that Vijayan’s governance and his tenure will not go unscrutinised in the upcoming reviews.