THE LONE RANGER
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s development model is bringing real change on the ground, but complacency and aversion to counsel may prove to be his undoing
The Kerala CM’s development model is bringing real change on the ground, but aversion to counsel may be his undoing
His first decision on being picked by the CPI(M) state committee to steer the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala was to announce a change in his date of birth with dramatic flourish. Offering sweets to the media, with whom he has had a testy relationship, Pinarayi Vijayan declared on May 24, 2016, that he was born the same day 71 years ago in 1945—a signal of sorts that he is making a new beginning.
Having narrowly lost out on an earlier chance to head an LDF government, Pinarayi has been keen to demonstrate that he leads from the front and has a mind of his own. Even the canons of Marxism were secondary in his aggressive style of governance that glossed—at times rode roughshod—over attempts to ‘guide’ him. Comrades offering counsel were snubbed, with the chief minister underlining “I know exactly what to do”. Pinarayi is the first Kerala chief minister from the CPI(M) to control both the government and the party at the same time.
Predictably, this approach has triggered controversies, but Pinarayi has remained unfazed. At 73, the man who some wryly call ‘Modi in dhoti’ for his uncompromising attitude, works tirelessly, covering tracks for several of his handpicked—and less competent—cabinet colleagues. Personal integrity has mattered the most in Pinarayi’s political
career, which has been largely devoted to nurturing militant party and trade union cadres locked in bloody battles with the BJP and the RSS in Kannur and elsewhere in north Kerala.
With 91 seats, the LDF is the dominant force in the 140-member legislative assembly, yet owing to his non-inclusive approach, Pinarayi has more detractors than admirers. However, his biggest drawback is perceived to be his unfamiliarity with the state’s top bureaucracy,
which has often prompted the chief minister to blindly trust his close aides. Consequently, he has made some bad choices and paid heavily for them. “Pinarayi Vijayan lost the first eight months (of his tenure) when some aides misled him in order to settle personal scores,” recalls a veteran state bureaucrat. “By removing them, he may have eventually set things right, but precious time was lost.”
But many others are impressed. “This is a performing government, with a vision and select initiatives to develop infrastructure for faster economic growth,” says S.M. Vijayanand, former chief secretary of Kerala. He says the Pinarayi government took measures to ensure that over 90 per cent of development funds were used in time—a record in the state’s history. Local bodies have used Rs 23,775 crore out of the total outlay of Rs 26,500 crore during 2017-18, largely because of the chief minister’s insistence on quarterly reviews on use of funds for development initiatives.
The focus on a time-targeted approach has, for instance, helped better the standards of primary healthcare, with improved services for the poor for whom private hospitals are virtually out of reach. “The government has given me a free hand to experiment with any effective model or initiative,” says additional chief secretary (health) Rajiv Sadanandan. “We have been able to attract young doctors to work in government hospitals to ensure better delivery and quality healthcare for the poor.”
Another area to which the Pinarayi government has contributed heavily is school education, with some 70,000 digital classrooms being set up in staterun schools at an investment of Rs 500 crore. A big move towards improving the state’s work culture was the ban announced from May 1 on nokku kooli, or ‘gawking wages’ charged by workers and trade unionists. “Banning nokku kooli was a bold measure,” feels C.J. George, managing director of Geojit Financial Services, Kochi.
Though Pinarayi has made policy interventions to attract investments, opposition leaders claim the dominant agenda of his two-year reign has been to stifle dissent. “The Pinarayi government is a total failure on all counts. It has criminalised the police force for political convenience,” alleges Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala of the Congress. “Eight people were tortured to death in police custody and 25 political murders were reported in the past 24 months. How can a chief minister claim model governance in the face of such vendetta?”
The BJP seconds the Congress on this. “The people are against the chief minister’s draconian policies of silencing political opponents,” claims Kummanam Rajasekharan, the BJP’s outgoing state chief who took charge as governor of Mizoram on May 29.
Pinarayi senses he is on a weak wicket on the issue. “I have several times given clear directives regarding the behaviour of the police, but some police officials could not understand and behaved in the usual manner,” he says. “Whenever police atrocities are reported, I’ve taken stern measures and registered cases against them, including murder. I will be the last person to protect them.”
Pinarayi’s intolerance to criticism is compounded by the growing silence of party veteran and former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan as well as the inert youth and women wings of the CPI(M). Except for a few vocal leaders, the Congress is also out on a limb while the BJP is striving hard to gain ground in the state.
While this may sound comforting, complacency would be Pinarayi’s biggest mistake in the remaining years of his term. Devoid of criticism and course correction, he faces failure, and his fall could be detrimental to the CPI(M)’s fortunes in Kerala.