The current Lok Sabha election is crucial for the Communist Party India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State committee even as it could well be a real litmus test for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s political acumen as well as popularity.
For, until recently the party was dependent almost solely on senior leader V.S. Achuthanandan’s mass appeal to win elections while Mr. Vijayan, viewed as a no-nonsense party boss, was confined to managing the organisation. Since 1996, the party and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had fought consecutive elections with Mr. Achuthanandan leading from the front.
Image makeover
His image makeover from a hardliner to a party rebel and mass leader after 2001 is believed to have helped the LDF score a massive victory in the 2006 Assembly election. The front narrowly missed its return to power in 2011. In the last Assembly poll too, Mr. Achuthanandan was the LDF’s main campaigner. The abysmal performance of the LDF in the 2009 Lok Sabha poll is attributed in no small measure to the reported feud in the party between the factions of Mr. Achuthanandan and Mr. Vijayan.
However, the public perception of Mr. Vijayan started changing after he took over as Chief Minister in 2016. His handling of situations such as last year’s floods, among others, won him admirers. With Mr. Achuthanandan not that active in the public sphere, it is left to Mr. Vijayan to take the challenges facing the party head on.
And, the hurdles are not small either. Though the Chief Minister’s firm stand to implement the Sabarimala verdict was hailed by progressives as well as those representing subaltern groups, it has reportedly irked a section of Hindu voters, some of who have been traditional Left supporters. And, the entry of Congress president Rahul Gandhi is reported to have dashed the CPI(M)’s hopes to garner a chunk of the minority votes by projecting itself as the only effective force that can resist the Hindu right-wing onslaught. The Congress campaign focussing on political violence may have an impact on the voters in north Malabar. The Congress is also planning to parade a host of national leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a bid to strike a chord among the voters.
All hopes on Vijayan
The CPI(M) is pinning its hopes on Mr. Vijayan to build an effective counter-narrative for the LDF. So far, the Chief Minister has been highlighting the similarities between the policies of the BJP and the Congress and the switching of loyalties of their legislators to point out the relevance of the Left in Parliament. If the LDF manages to at least retain or even improve its tally in the Lok Sabha, the credit will surely go to Mr. Vijayan. If the Left gets washed out or their strength diminishes after the elections, the Chief Minister will have to bear the blame.
Kerala is perhaps the only place from where the CPI(M) could manage seats as the situation continues to be grim in its other strongholds, West Bengal and Tripura. In other States, it is heavily banking on regional parties or have tied up with other Left parties. So, this could be a make-or-break moment for the party as well as Mr. Vijayan.
