CPI(M) Politbureau member from Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, had tried to project himself as the chief ministerial candidate of the party in 2006 and 2011 but his Enemy No 1 in the party, VS Achuthanandan, snatched the chance away from him on both occasions. Pinarayi is now nursing that dream once again, if sources can be believed, as Assembly election is due in a year. But strengthening dissent within the CPI(M) is likely to shatter his dream for a third time.
Supporters of Achuthanandan, who had not dared utter a word of protest in the party for 17 long years when Pinarayi was State secretary, have now started criticizing him sharply, openly and boldly and airing support for Achuthanandan in party forums, indicating that his dream of becoming the CM candidate of the party and the lDF it leads will be met with stiff opposition.
The enthronement of Sitaram Yechury, an ardent supporter of Achuthanandan, as party general secretary after the exit of pro-Pinarayi Prakash Karat, is also likely to affect his plans. Yechury has already said that Achuthanandan, now 92, can fight election again if he still has the health and energy and that he will lead the party’s campaign in the next polls as well.
According to CPI(M) insiders, the relief Pinarayi could have felt while stepping down as State secretary in February after holding that position for 17 years was that Achuthanandan, currently Opposition leader, had been totally sidelined in the party and that there would be no opposition for the proposal to project him as the left’s chief ministerial candidate.
“It is in this context that the protests coming up now against how he had been running the party for the past 17 years and against the systematic sidelining of Achuthanandan since 2005 are becoming relevant. As a person who knows the party closely, I think Pinarayi may lose the race for the top position this time also,” claimed a close aide of Achuthanandan.
“There is a general belief now that the lDF will come to power after the next election despite the frailties of the CPI(M) and the CPI, thanks to the affinity to corruption of the (Congress-led) UDF Government. With that in mind, Pinarayi’s public relations workers have already started their campaign, projecting him as the lDF’s CM candidate,” he said.
The first CPI(M) leader to project Pinarayi as the CM candidate was central committee member EP Jayarajan, belonging to the Kannur lobby of the party Pinarayi himself heads. But another central committee member and convener of the lDF, Vaikom Viswan, blocked that move by stating that no such decision had been taken by the party or the front.
The next Pinarayi-loyalist to publicly propose his name for chief ministerial candidature was former minister AK Balan, who was made a central committee member just last month. But this was shot down by none other than general secretary Yechury himself when he hinted that Achuthanandan was still in the reckoning.
As late as on Friday, Politbureau member MA Baby told a TV channel that Pinarayi was one of the most qualified persons the CPI(M) has for the post of chief minister. “He had proved his administrative efficiency when he was Cooperation minister (in the 1996-2001 EK Nayanar Ministry). But the party has not held any discussions in this regard,” Baby said.
Sociologists point out that the biggest problem Pinarayi faces when it comes to elections is his image of a tough Marxist who cannot act diplomatically or speak softly. “He has all the airs of an authoritarian leader and he is the most Stalin-like figure in Kerala CPI(M). I don’t think such an image is suitable for elections,” says psychologist-journalist BS Panicker.