Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the post-election rumblings in the CPI(M) in Kerala have assumed a shrill pitch among the ranks, the party’s upcoming ‘extended state committee meeting’, with course correction as the agenda, is likely to spare party bigwigs, including former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, from being held accountable for the devastating defeat suffered in the Assembly elections. The three-day huddle, starting on September 13, will have the party’s state committee members, office-bearers of feeder organisations and select comrades from across the organisational tiers converging in Kozhikode. The party’s Polit Bureau members, led by General Secretary M. A. Baby, will also be present, apparently to oversee the deliberations.
Party Elites Rally Behind Pinarayi Vijayan
Significantly, the meeting coincides with Vijayan coming under the scanner in the Enforcement Directorate’s probe into the alleged pay-off involving his daughter T. Veena. The ED probe pertains to alleged payments made by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL) to Veena’s IT firm, Exalogic Solutions, purportedly as fees for IT and consultancy services while her father was Chief Minister. The ED alleges that the services for which the payments were made were not actually rendered. The probe has taken a serious turn, with the ED writing to the state police chief seeking registration of a corruption case against Vijayan, Veena and former minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas.
The development has pushed the UDF government into a dilemma. Outright rejection of the central agency’s recommendation could hurt the government’s image. At the same time, for the Congress, as the lead partner of the ruling UDF coalition, it would be difficult to rush to comply with the ED’s request, as that could appear inconsistent with the party’s national position that central agencies are being misused as tools of political vendetta by the Centre. The state government has said it will examine the ED’s communication legally before taking a decision.
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Party Meet to Follow the Set Template
Both the party and Vijayan have rubbished the allegations and asserted that the ED’s move will be countered “politically and legally.” The Kozhikode meet was decided well ahead of this development. That the leadership is compelled to call such a huddle reflects the deepening crisis of confidence in the CPI(M), triggered by the strong electoral tide that devastated the party and the LDF it led. Unlike in the past, when the party had bounced back from electoral setbacks, the tectonic reversal this time has cast a deep shadow over the top brass, especially Vijayan, who dictated terms in the party and the government for ten years. Before becoming Chief Minister, Vijayan also served as the party’s state secretary for a long period. According to his detractors, he leveraged that position to consolidate his standing in the party, suppressing dissenting voices. The Assembly elections saw the CPI(M)’s tally plummet to 26 in the 140-member House from 62 in 2021, when it returned to power for a second consecutive term. The collective strength of the LDF came down to 35 from 99 in 2021. Though the defeat has shaken Vijayan’s authority, he managed to get selected as Leader of the Opposition soon after the election with the backing of the loyal clique that has formed around him in the party.
The deliberations at the Kozhikode meet are expected to follow a structured format, a party playbook aimed at preventing conversations from going off on tangents and leaving the top brass vulnerable. The salient findings of the poll-review report, drawn up on the basis of the state committee’s post-election meetings, will serve as the framework for the deliberations. According to CPI(M) General Secretary M. A. Baby, the Kozhikode meet comes in the larger context of the ‘rectification campaign’ to enable the party to identify and address ideological deviations and organisational weaknesses. Three broad issues — parliamentary aberrations, failure to maintain close engagement with the masses, and shortcomings in collective functioning — have been identified as themes for discussion. Baby has also said that the rectification process is not limited to the Kerala election defeat, as it flows from decisions taken at the party’s 24th Congress.
Obviously, what is being glossed over by such generalisations is the need to fix responsibility and hold leaders accountable for these failures, which is vital to boosting the sagging confidence of the party ranks. Ironically, the leadership is aware that the last election reflected alienation among voters beyond the party structure due to governance issues, while there was also serious erosion in the party’s own vote base. This was evident from the victories of three former CPI(M) leaders in traditional Left strongholds — V. Kunhikrishnan and T. K. Govindan in Kannur district, and G. Sudhakaran in Alappuzha — as UDF-backed Independents.
Entrenched Power Wielders to Check Hardliners
Post-election, two broad perspectives have emerged in the party. One set of voices, represented by those loyal to the present leadership, holds that sections of the electorate, especially the broadly Left-leaning ones, made a wrong choice in the elections, mostly under the compulsion of local power tussles. The course-correction process should address this constituency effectively and convince them to return to the “right path.” The second line, though still a minority one, insists that it is time for the party to address the maladies afflicting it frankly and fearlessly and regain its capability as a vibrant political vanguard. The proponents of this line want the upcoming meet to become a platform for open discussion, introspection and self-correction and, above all, for holding accountable those who have pushed the party into the present crisis. This process, they argue, should set the context for an eventual leadership change while avoiding the risks involved in an immediate shake-up. All said, going by the clues from the party leadership, the ongoing exercise appears set to follow the time-hardened pattern. The meet is likely to come out with a lengthy document, replete with jargon and full of promises, while leaving the lead cast untouched.
