Pinarayi likely Kerala CM candidate

Even as discussions take off on the CPM’s chief ministerial candidate for next year’s Assembly election in Kerala, the party has dropped a hint at things to come by picking Polit bureau member Pinarayi Vijayan to lead a statewide road show ahead of the poll.

The reported move is significant in that it comes in the wake of veteran V S Achuthanandan’s statement that he would consider contesting the election and leading the Opposition campaign based on the party’s decision and “people’s opinion”.

Reports said the march would commence at Kasaragod on January 15 and end at Thiruvanananthapuram on February 15. The road show is tipped to be CPM’s show of strength ahead of the election and is scheduled to cover the 140 Assembly constituencies in the state.

Vijayan, a former CPM state secretary was tipped to be the chief ministerial candidate for the 2016 poll but Achuthanandan’s recent statement had also triggered fresh possibilities. Earlier this week, Achuthanandan, the leader of the Opposition, responded to questions on his next electoral foray by saying that he would act on wishes of “the people and the party”.

The party’s central leadership had recently lauded the 92-year-old veteran’s “energy” and said the party was not considering a retirement age for its leaders. The CPM state leadership maintained that a chief ministerial candidate would be decided on only after the election.