Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Finds Himself In Choppy Waters Ahead Of Lok Sabha Elections

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lead a protest rally in New Delhi On 8 February, against the Union government’s restrictions on the state borrowings, impacting social welfare and development programmes.

Last year, the financially-strained Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had moved the Supreme Court against the Centre on the issue, but that move has not paid off — not yet at least.

While the state is indeed facing financial difficulties and it remains to be seen as to what the court decides, Vijayan finds himself under pressure from multiple fronts, making the management of narrative ahead of the the Lok Sabha polls challenging for the two-time Chief Minister.

A few years after the gold smuggling scam, he is once again under scrutiny as the Centre has informed the Kerala High Court that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has launched a probe into the allegations.

The allegations state that a company owned by Vijayan's daughter was receiving monthly payments from Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd without providing any services.

His leadership and style of functioning came into question too. Popular Malayalam novelist M T Vasudevan Nair's recent remarks on totalitarianism, corruption, and personality cults were widely seen as aimed at Vijayan.

Moreover, the main Opposition party in the state, the Congress, which is an ally of the CPI(M) outside Kerala and a partner in the INDI Alliance, has has turned up the heat on the Chief Minister. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan went to the extent of calling Vijayan 'bloodthirsty' recently.

The two parties continue to spar over the arrest of leaders of the Congress Youth Wing and Kerala Students Union (the student wing of the Congress), and this is only likely to worsen as elections draw closer.

While Vijayan has sought backing from the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League for the LDF's protest on state finances, they are yet to commit their support. Satheesan had earlier said that the LDF government could not blame the Centre alone for the state's financial woes.

Vijayan has also been at odds with Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, and their quarrel has played out in full view of the media. The Governor has accused him not only of opposing his decisions but also of organising attacks against him.

The Governor's appointment of individuals from outside the far-left ecosystem to state-run universities in Kerala, by virtue of his ex-officio Chancellor position, has not helped Vijayan either.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also been doubling down on its campaign efforts in the state, which can be seen in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's back-to-back visits and roadshows in Thrissur and Kochi.

While one of the highlights of the previous visit to Thrissur had a programme called the 'Stree Shakti Modikoppam', as part of the party's outreach to women voters, the current one had the Prime Minister's address to in-charges of 'Shaktikendras', which look after the issues of a cluster of booths.

Apart from the political programmes, Prime Minister Modi also visited the Guruvayoor and Sri Ramaswami temples and attended the wedding of actor Suresh Gopi's daughter. Gopi is the party's likely candidate from Thrissur.

The BJP is also actively reaching out to the Christian population of the state, to wean them away from the LDF and the United Democratic Front. A significant number of Christians had begun supporting the LDF after the Kerala Congress (Mani) joined it.

Other than politics, issues of governance are also troubling the Chief Minister. The challenges faced by devotees en route to Sabarimala, like long waiting times for darshan and the lack of basic facilities like drinking water, have also done no good to the image of the Kerala government in the eyes of Hindus.

Therefore, Vijayan is not only up against the Centre but also has to contend with allegations against his daughter, a combative Congress, a resilient BJP, and discontent against his government, putting him in a tough spot ahead of the crucial elections.