Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 (IANS) For nearly three decades, Pinarayi Vijayan stood as the undisputed strongman of Kerala politics, a leader who transformed himself from a powerful Kannur district organiser into perhaps the most dominant figure the CPI(M) in Kerala had seen since the days of EMS Namboodiripad.

Today, however, the visuals emerging from his residences in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur while being raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) mark a stunning political moment, one almost unimaginable during the height of Vijayan’s authority.

It is extremely rare in the history of the CPI(M) that a serving Politburo member and two time former Chief Minister faces coordinated ED raids linked to a financial investigation involving close family members.

For a party that built its politics on ideological discipline and organisational morality, the symbolism is devastating irrespective of the legal outcome of the case.

From 1998 onwards, Vijayan maintained an iron grip over both the party machinery and later, the government.

Rivals within the CPI(M) were either sidelined or neutralised politically.

Even towering leaders who once challenged him, eventually faded from relevance, while Vijayan emerged as the unquestioned face of Kerala’s Left politics.

His electoral triumph in 2021 further elevated him into a near invincible figure.

Breaking Kerala’s four-decade-old pattern of alternating governments, Vijayan led the Left Democratic Front to a historic consecutive second term.

At that point, his authority within the CPI(M) appeared absolute.

Yet politics can turn with remarkable speed.

The severe setback suffered by the CPI(M) in last month’s Assembly polls weakened the aura around Vijayan for the first time in years.

With power now shifting to the government led by V.D. Satheesan, Vijayan no longer commands the administrative shield that once insulated him politically.

Ironically, during Vijayan’s first tenure as Chief Minister, Kerala witnessed an unprecedented confrontation between the state police and the ED during the controversial gold smuggling investigation.

The Kerala Police had then registered a case against ED officials themselves, accusing them of procedural violations, a move critics saw as an aggressive attempt to politically counter central agencies.

Today the equations have dramatically reversed.

With the ED tightening its probe in the CMRL-Exalogic case, Vijayan’s immediate options appear limited largely to legal recourse and political mobilisation.

The CPI(M) has already hit the streets alleging a covert understanding between the BJP and the Congress to politically isolate Vijayan.

Whether this marks merely a difficult phase or the beginning of the final decline of Kerala’s once unassailable Communist strongman remains the defining political question before the state.

–IANS

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