A day before Governor R S Gavai green-signalled his prosecution, CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had been breathing fire on Janata Dal(S) president M P Veerendrakumar and churches in Kerala over their role in the party’s electoral debacle.
His outburst was against the suggestion of party general secretary Prakash Karat that the JD(S) should be brought back to the LDF fold and the party should woo Christian community. However, there was not even a whiff of compromise in Vijayan’s words. That has been the style of the 65-year-old comrade.
Born and groomed in Pinarayi in Kannur, blood-stained by the political violence between the Communists and the Parivar, Vijayan has always posed a challenge to his detractors both within the party and outside.
Critics, let alone enemies, need not expect any leniency from Vijayan, heading the party state unit since 1998. He has always had his way in the party, whatever be its repercussion, whoever be the victim of his juggernaut. Fellow comrades, editors, bishops and common people bore the brunt of his acerbic words and deeds.
He could not even brook comrades visiting his dwelling place. A few years ago, four young comrades were suspended from the party on the charges of going to look at his palatial mansion at Pinarayi. Comrades and critics could not stomach how Vijayan, the youngest of the 14 children of Mundayil Koran, a toddy tapper, could amass such wealth. No one dared to take up the issue after that.
Whatever the controversy, damage control has never been his mission, it seems. In 2007, when the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani unleashed a vicious campaign against Veerendrakumar, Vijayan felt no qualms about it. It was left to Karat to tender an apology.
Vijayan’s USP in the party is his organisational clout. While the party’s state unit was rocked by controversies one after another, Vijayan had managed to steer clear of them. Even now, when the party is being buffeted by the SNC Lavalin case — the mother of all Left scams — Vijayan has ensured the support of the entire party machinery. He has also succeeded in winning the support of the Central leadership.
This economics graduate’s supremacy over the organisation had brought in drastic changes in the party during the recent years. The party which had strayed from its professed policies on several vital issues, found new political partners and hobnobbed with several controversial businessmen. It grew into a multi-faceted business house, which ran high-tech hospitals, TV channels, tourism projects and numerous co-operative ventures. A five-star hotel project is in the pipeline even as the party is passing through its worst-ever political crisis.
Known as a strict party disciplinarian, Vijayan has faced charges of betraying the party’s political line vis-à-vis his children’s education. While the party is strongly opposed to self-financing educational institutions in Kerala, Vijayan’s daughter graduated from one such institute. His son’s admission in Birmingham University for an MBA course, priced at Rs 50 lakh, too, had generated much controversy. His critics doubted his source of income. A minister only for two-years from 1996 to 1998, his term was tainted by the Lavalin deal.
Though he faced the threat of being divested of the post of secretary during the party state conference in 2005, Vijayan staged a spectacular comeback snubbing his rival V S Achuthanandan. Since then, there has been no looking back.
(This article is taken from indian express daily and copyright rests with them.)
