Thiruvananthapuram: For nearly three decades, Pinarayi Vijayan stood as the unquestioned strongman of the CPI(M) in Kerala. Now, the Assembly poll debacle has triggered a wave of dissent against Vijayan.
From the time he entered the E.K. Nayanar Cabinet in 1996 and later assumed charge as state secretary in 1998, Vijayan steadily consolidated his authority within the party with an iron grip that few dared to challenge.
However, the political landscape within the CPI(M) appears to have dramatically shifted after the crushing Assembly election debacle of May 4, when the Left Front, which once commanded 99 seats in the 140-member Assembly, was reduced to a mere 35 seats.
The electoral humiliation has triggered an unprecedented wave of dissent against Vijayan and state secretary M.V. Govindan.
What began as murmurs inside the Politburo soon spilled into the state committee meeting, where Vijayan reportedly faced criticism unlike anything seen in his long political career.
That discontent has now spread to the district level, with Pathanamthitta and Kannur district secretariat meetings openly questioning the leadership style and political decisions of both Vijayan and Govindan.
The criticism from Pathanamthitta was particularly explosive.
Leaders there openly challenged the decision to appoint Vijayan as Leader of the Opposition after the defeat, arguing that the age-limit relaxation granted to him was meant to continue as Chief Minister and not to remain at the helm after a massive electoral rejection.
The meeting also attacked the functioning of the Chief Minister’s Office, alleging that grassroots party workers were alienated and denied access during the Left government’s decade long tenure.
Kannur, long considered Vijayan’s political fortress, echoed similar concerns.
Leaders reportedly said the party leadership failed to read the public mood and that Vijayan’s style and public statements became liabilities during the campaign.
Govindan, too, finds himself under pressure.
Unlike Vijayan, Govindan never fully connected either with the cadre or the broader public.
Now, allegations that he prioritised personal and family interests over organisational issues have further weakened his standing within the party. It has doubled after his wife lost to a party rebel.
With 12 more district committee meetings yet to take place, party insiders do not expect the criticism to subside.
Attention is now turning towards whether the CPI(M) leadership will convene a special plenum to seriously assess the collapse.
Ironically, after the disastrous 2024 Lok Sabha elections and again following the Left’s worst-ever setback in the local body polls, the leadership had promised a “review.”
The same narrative is now being repeated once again. But this time, the crisis appears deeper.
The CPI(M) is facing not just an electoral defeat, but a crisis of leadership. And for the first time in decades, both Pinarayi Vijayan and Govindan appear politically vulnerable within their own party.
