Kozhikode, Sep 12 (IANS) : The CPI-M’s crucial three-day extended Kerala State Committee meeting formally begins in Kozhikode on Sunday, with the party set to undertake a detailed post-mortem of its electoral debacle amid renewed questions over the sway of Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The meeting assumes added significance as the Enforcement Directorate’s move seeking registration of an FIR in the alleged monthly payment case against the now-defunct IT company of his daughter Veena has put Vijayan at the centre of another political controversy.
Yet, interestingly, Vijayan himself sought to keep the two issues apart when he faced the media on Saturday for the first time after the ED move surfaced.
Asked whether the ED action would figure in the three-day deliberations, Vijayan shot back: “What are you asking? It has got nothing to do with our meeting.”
Whether the ED issue remains outside the political mood of the meeting, however, will be closely watched.
Coming just as the CPI-M prepares to review its worst electoral setback, the agency action has provided the party leadership with another reason to rally around Vijayan and portray him as the target of politically motivated central agency action.
The leadership is keen to ensure that the review does not turn into an open trial of Vijayan.
Electoral setbacks, organisational weaknesses, and the need for corrective measures are expected to come up, but senior leaders are unlikely to encourage personal attacks on the former Chief Minister.
Around 90 per cent of the delegates are understood to be supportive of Vijayan, making any immediate challenge to his leadership unlikely.
The positions of party veterans P. Jayarajan, A.N. Shamseer, and Thomas Isaac will therefore be watched closely.
They could raise questions over the electoral defeat and functioning of the party, but an open attack on Vijayan is not expected.
The party leadership is also expected to resist an extensive discussion on the monthly payment controversy, with Vijayan and legislator P.A. Mohammed Riyas (Veena’s husband) having already given their explanations.
The CPI, the second-biggest member in the Left Democratic Front, meanwhile, has adopted a more cautious position on the ED action.
CPI state Secretary Binoy Viswam said he was not aware of all the details of the case involving Vijayan, but maintained that the Left would politically oppose any misuse of central agencies.
The immediate challenge for the CPI-M, however, is to ensure that the poll review does not turn into a wider leadership debate.
For Vijayan, the ED controversy may have altered the political backdrop to that debate.
Whether it ultimately works to his advantage or merely adds another contentious issue to an already difficult review remains to be seen.
