NEWSMAKER. Can the old-school Communist stand up to new-world challenges?

Tough. Stubborn. Blunt. No-nonsense. Uncompromising.

These are some of the adjectives associated with the personality of Pinarayi Vijayan, 72, the Chief Minister-designate of Kerala. When Pinarayi speaks on a public platform or instructs his comrades, there is zero ambiguity. His firm words — though monotonous — and their intentions are crystal clear.

Public-relations gimmicks, so commonplace with politicians, are alien to Pinarayi’s personality. Perhaps his upbringing in the old school of communists has contributed to this. “I don’t change my style of functioning,” he told an interviewer last year. “It’s a personal trait.”

Vijayan was born into a backward caste, working-class family from the Communist bastion of Pinarayi in Kannur district. The schoolboy Vijayan admired P Krishna Pillai, the founder of the Communist movement in Kerala. On completion of his schooling, Pinarayi worked for a year as a handloom weaver before attending Brennen College in Thalassery for undergraduate study. Like many Communist leaders, he entered the party through student politics. In college, he led the Kerala Students Federation, the predecessor to the Students Federation of India.

In 1970, a 26-year-old Pinarayi was elected to the Kerala Assembly. When the Emergency was imposed, he suffered police torture and spent 18 months in jail. He began his second term in the Assembly in 1977 by showing up in a bloodied shirt that spoke of the police brutalities during the Emergency. It created a sensation across Kerala. It was perhaps during his time in prison that Pinarayi moulded his stern personality. It was steeled during his time as the CPI(M)’s Kannur District Secretary.

When he was elected to the Assembly in 1996 – for his fourth term – Pinarayi was made Electricity Minister in the EK Nayanar government. During his two-year stint, he proved his administrative capabilities.

But, the period also gave him his Achilles’ heel — the infamous Lavalin case. Pinarayi and the State’s top power officials were accused of causing a loss of ₹300 crore to the exchequer, after Canadian company SNC-Lavalin was contracted to repair the Kerala State Electricity Board’s hydroelectric generators. And though Pinarayi was exonerated 15 years later, l’affaire Lavalin continues to haunt him.

Pinarayi was made the CPI(M) State Secretary in 1998 after the death of Chadayan Govindan. He held the post for more than 16 years before stepping down last year. It was this period that brought out Pinarayi’s organisational acumen and leadership qualities. In a period when Communist parties worldwide crumbled, Pinarayi guarded his fort well. He defended the party from attacks from outside as well as from within. During these years, he was the public face of the CPI(M) and the media attacked him relentlessly, and ruthlessly. But he stood his ground, without wavering or succumbing to crises.

Early on in his tenure as State Secretary began Pinarayi’s legendary rivalry with ‘VS’ Achuthanandan. Since VS had undergone an image makeover as a crusader for public issues, he became very popular outside the party, and the darling of the media. But the majority of the party cadre was with Pinarayi. In spite of the latter’s opposition, VS was chosen Chief Minister in 2006. Because of their open confrontation, the duo was suspended from the CPI(M) Politburo in 2007. Pinarayi was reinstated later, but VS today is not even a part of the party’s State Committee.

In the 2016 election, both leaders, suppressing their animosity for the other, worked hard for an LDF victory. And the effort has paid off. But for VS’ mass support and his aggressive campaign, the LDF would not have secured such a spectacular victory. In that sense, Pinarayi owes it to VS for his elevation as Chief Minister.

Will Pinarayi’s personal traits help him become a good administrator? “I am pretty sure that he will prove himself to be a great Chief Minister,” says NRI writer Abu Iringattiri. “What we need now is not a please-all CM, but a leader who can get things done.”

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