Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 (IANS) For perhaps the first time in his six-decade-long public life, Pinarayi Vijayan finds himself politically cornered, not by his political adversaries alone, but from within the very party structure he once controlled with unquestioned authority.

The stunning electoral debacle suffered by the CPI(M) in Kerala has triggered an unprecedented backlash against Vijayan across party committees, from grassroots area meetings to the party’s national leadership forums.

The man who for nearly a quarter century remained the undisputed power centre of Kerala CPI(M), and for the past decade ran the government with an iron grip where little moved without his approval, is now facing criticism on a scale rarely witnessed in the party’s tightly disciplined history.

What has particularly rattled the Kerala leadership is the outright rejection by the CPI(M) Central Committee of the state unit’s argument that there was no anti-incumbency sentiment in Kerala.

Leaders at the national level reportedly questioned how the party could collapse so dramatically if public resentment against the government did not exist.

The criticism has not remained confined to Delhi. At area committee meetings in Kerala, party members openly accused Vijayan’s style and public remarks of alienating ordinary people from the CPI(M).

At the Chalakudy Area Committee, members reportedly stated that the former Chief Minister’s words and approach distanced voters from the party.

There were also sharp criticisms over candidate selection and the functioning of local leadership.

State secretary M.V. Govindan, too, has come under attack, with party workers complaining that even cadre members struggled to understand his responses on sensitive political issues.

Yet, within party circles, there is a growing perception that while Govindan shares the blame, it is Vijayan who remains the principal target of anger and frustration.

Ironically, the same leader once seen as invincible within the CPI(M) is now confronting demands for sweeping corrections from the grassroots to the top.

Even as the party leadership attempts damage control, one reality has become impossible to ignore: the aura of political invincibility around Pinarayi Vijayan has suffered its biggest crack yet.

–IANS

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