Pinarayi Vijayan era under fire as CPI(M) meet on Kerala poll debacle reaches its sharpest point

Kozhikode: The CPI(M)’s extended state committee meeting entered its concluding day on Tuesday with the party facing an unusually open and sharp internal questioning of the leadership style that has dominated Kerala for nearly three decades, with former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan clearly at the centre of the criticism.

The three-day meeting, convened to review the Left’s crushing electoral defeat, has witnessed an unprecedented degree of criticism from district committees and delegates.

Much of it has been directed, directly or indirectly, at the style of functioning that evolved around Vijayan, who first became state secretary in 1998 and remained in that position until 2014 before serving as Chief Minister from 2016 to 2026.

The Kollam district committee reportedly bluntly linked the decline of communist parties elsewhere in the world to the arrogance of their leaders, while the Kannur committee said the decade of LDF rule had weakened the organisation.

The 2026 Assembly election campaign claims that there was no alternative to the LDF, was also criticised as having worked against the party.

The criticism assumes added significance because the Central Committee report itself had acknowledged serious organisational and political shortcomings.

Delegates have demanded that the party should make its mistakes and the corrective measures it proposes to take clear to both the people and its cadre.

Though Vijayan has not been the principal speaker in the discussions, the thrust of the criticism is unmistakably linked to the political style associated with him.

State secretary M.V. Govindan has also come under criticism, particularly over the party organisation and its failure to arrest the electoral decline.

All eyes are now on Govindan’s reply to the discussions.

His response is expected to indicate how the state leadership intends to address the unusually candid criticism without allowing the debate to turn into an open leadership challenge.

The political reality, however, appears to favour continuity.

Despite the intensity of the criticism, there is little indication that the meeting is preparing the ground for an immediate change at the top.

A dramatic leadership change involving either Vijayan or Govindan would require a major political intervention that does not appear imminent.

For now, the focus is on whether Govindan can acknowledge the concerns raised by the delegates, defend the leadership where necessary and offer a credible course correction.

The extended state committee will conclude with a massive public rally in Kozhikode in the evening. The party has claimed that over a lakh people will participate. The rally may provide the leadership an opportunity to project unity.

But the debate inside the meeting has already ensured that the question of the Vijayan era and its legacy can no longer be kept outside the party’s post-poll reckoning.

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