Apr 08, 2026 13:05 pm IST

Opinion | Has Pinarayi Vijayan Been Left All Alone?

The carefully constructed image of Vijayan as a leader in full control now lies shattered - in no small measure due to his own actions.

Anand Kochukudy Anand Kochukudy Columnist

Anand Kochukudy Columnist

If there is one edifice that is symbolic of Pinarayi Vijayan's two terms as Kerala Chief Minister, it would be the brand new AKG Centre, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) headquarters, in Kerala. Located next to its old base, the spanking new complex touching Thiruvananthapuram's skyline resembles a state-of-the-art hotel rather than an office representing the working class. Such an office would not be a reality today had Vijayan not dared to dream when he first took over as state secretary of the party.

Vijayan was born at Pinarayi, in Kannur, not far from Parappuram, where the undivided Communist Party took birth in Kerala. For many, like Vijayan, growing up in the post-independence Kannur, Communism offered a respite from abject poverty and a change of status, where one would be treated as an equal with those who came from better means. Vijayan worked as a beedi roller before enrolling in Thalassery's Brennen College, and his leadership qualities and good fortune ensured that he would swiftly rise.

Vijayan's rise in hierarchy seemed almost pre-destined, as he got to the party's Kannur district committee in 1968 on the panel of strongman MV Raghavan, who would remain a major influence on Vijayan throughout his political career. Vijayan became an MLA in 1970, and Pattiam Gopalan's untimely death in 1978 elevated him to the state committee. Ironically, it was the ouster of MV Raghavan in 1986 that catapulted him to the leadership of the party in Kannur overnight, as district secretary.

What Vijayan may have lacked in ideological rigour, he made up for in practical wisdom. It would not be off the mark to say that Marxist regimentation was Vijayan's cover to mask his revisionist impulses. In the CPI-M, power flows from Kannur, its strongest unit, across the country. Vijayan was thrust into state leadership after Chadayan Govindan's demise in 1998 at the height of factionalism, with VS Achuthanandan at one end, and the Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) at the other.

'State Secretary' Vijayan

As state secretary, Vijayan consolidated his position and turned against Achuthanandan, who had annihilated the CITU wing by then. The power struggle between Vijayan and Achuthanandan reached a flashpoint in 2005 at the CPI-M Malappuram state conference, where the two leaders vied for the party's control.........

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