LDF eyes return on back of Pinarayi Vijayan's rising popularity in Kerala

Vijayan's critics attribute his success to a strong PR outfit, but his supporters says it's his leadership that has made him the CM

Amid the heated poll campaigns in Kerala, Chief Minister and LDF leader Pinarayi Vijayan has emerged as the face of the party, with full-sized posters featuring him being spotted in corners of the state and many likening him to ‘Mundu Udutha Modi’ or 'Modi clad in mundu (a traditional dhoti)', indicating his soaring popularity in God's own country.

Vijayan, who is eyeing a second term in the state, has so far had a rather illustrious political career. Born in Kannur in 1945, Vijayan joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) as a 19-year-old whilst still studying at Government Brennen College in Thalassery. During that time, he actively participated in student activities and led youth organisations linked to the Left including the Students Federation of India and Democratic Youth Federation of India.

After winning four Assembly elections, 1970, 1977 and 1991 from Kuthuparamba seat and 1996 from Payyanur, the 75-year-old's first stint as Chief Minister came in 2016. Over the years, he also held other positions such as Cabinet minister from 1996 to 1998, state secretary of the party and president of Kerala State Co-operative Bank.

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Vijayan, who soon grabbed the crown of a 'revered administrator' with a key focus on development, rose to many occasions, one such instance being the 2016 Assembly elections when the party had to let go of its popular face former chief minister V S Achuthanandan. Vijayan led the Left government to victory in the absence of his bête noire. Vijayan and the 97-year-old former chief minister were known to be such bitter rivals that in 2007, both of them were suspended from the party’s Politburo for their scathing remarks against each other. Later, Vijayan was reinstated into the Politburo.

As Vijayan, beating the drum of developments, leads the Left Democratic Front's way to another term in Kerala, opinion polls suggest he may break the state tradition to rotate its government. According to the Times Now-Cvoter opinion poll, the LDF is expected to win the election and retain power. The LDF is projected to win 82 seats in the 140-seat Assembly. With 42.3 per cent of the respondents saying that they were satisfied with Vijayan's leadership, the chief minister managed to hold on to the 'most popular pick' tag.

The Kerala chief minister is planning to contest polls from Dharmadam, a bastion of the Left.

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One of the key qualities of Vijayan that may have fuelled his popularity is his no-nonsense personality. Vijayan sticks to his strategy to harp on the work done by his government for the people and avoids addressing accusations made by Opposition parties. In his campaign, he often claims that he never let people go hungry as the government distributed free food kits through the public distribution system.

"We gave 2.5 lakh houses for the homeless and distributed title deeds to 1.86 lakh people. The Gail gas line project which everyone thought was impossible was made a reality. Social welfare pensions were increased to Rs 1,600 from Rs 600. Over 6.8 lakh students enrolled in public schools," he said in a campaign rally in February.

In the upcoming Assembly elections, however, Vijayan faces an uphill task to gather votes as his government has been mired by scandals such as the gold smuggling case, dollar smuggling case, and issues such as his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sabarimala matter and backdoor entry into government service.

At first, his government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic was lauded around the world for keeping the number of Covid-19 cases low and bolstering the healthcare system, but over the past few months, the number of cases skyrocketed before plateauing only recently. This was seen as a failure of the government and Vijayan has borne the brunt of widespread criticism for the soaring of Covid-19 cases.

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The Pinarayi Vijayan government, which suffered a drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, winning only one of 20 seats, might also still be worried about the Sabarimala issue. Recently, the LDF government withdrew cases registered in 2018-19 against those who had indulged in alleged unlawful actions while protesting against the Supreme Court ruling allowing entry of women into the Sabarimala temple, a move seen as to pacify the voters.

"The incidents that took place in Sabarimala in 2018 was something which had pained all of us. It should never have happened. It has pained everyone...it has pained me also," minister Kadakampally Surendran said. While senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala felt the statement was to "deceive" the devotees, BJP State president K Surendran said the minister was shedding crocodile tears and would not be forgiven for the cruelty and injustice shown to Sabarimala, even if he takes a dip in the holy River Ganga a thousand times.

Vijayan also faced heat from the Opposition after members of the Chief Minister’s Office were named in the gold smuggling case. With investigations ongoing in the case, Vijayan’s image has taken a beating. Prime accused Swapna Suresh made "shocking revelations" against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and some ministers on dollar "smuggling" involving UAE consulate officials. In a statement, the Customs said, "She has stated with clarity about the smuggling of foreign currency at the instance of the Hon'ble chief minister and the Hon'ble Speaker with the help of the Consulate.”

The Opposition has jumped to the occasion to point fingers at the Vijayan government. Slamming the CM, Chennithala, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, said he does not have the right to remain in the chief minister's post in view of the revelations.

Whilst his critics say that Vijayan made it to the top position in the state because of a well-oiled public relations and cyber outfit, his supporters say that his successful leadership in tough situations is what helped him become the CM. Whether Vijayan's growing popularity will help the party draw the second term, is something only time will tell.