The government of Kerala is now in the hands of the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). After years of scandal and corruption, the people of Kerala have decided to summarily show the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) the door – much like the Congress’ experience at the centre and various states. The Kerala electorate has an unbroken habit of voting out the ruling party. As a result, no coalition had been able to win two successive elections. Seen from this perspective, 2016 was another routine election.
But what makes this election different is that the CPI(M) is now lead by Pinarayi Vijayan, a simple, down-to-earth party worker turned mass leader who has diligently worked his way up the ranks starting out as a student leader, before being handpicked by former party veterans EMS and EK Nayanar to take on more responsibility and leadership within the party. Today, as he takes his role as Chief Minister of Kerala, he brings with him a team of relatively young, firebrand leaders groomed and nurtured under his watchful eyes while simultaneously drawing on senior talent within the Marxist party. Most importantly, he appears to be free of the constant bickering of his archrival Comrade Achuthanandan. Pinarayi Vijayan has a number of challenges ahead of him and a few of his own. For instance, he has, over the years, been a victim of some needless and somewhat negative propaganda. While he faces multiple challenges in his role as CM, he will need to set right the negative perceptions about him that have been perpetrated by the media.
To read the rest of this post, please visit the Economic Times website where it was first published.
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