Has Pinarayism taken over CPIM?

Thiruvananthapuram: Kannur was unusually red in the past five days.

Red flags along with mock edifices bearing the faces of veteran leaders adorned along many streets.

It was like a festival of red, only the CPI-M party congress was a serious affair with party ideologues discussing various issues and policies.

As many as 906 delegates from across the country attended the congress at the E K Nayanar Academy here.

Kerala sent most number of delegates: 175, alongside three observers.

Now that the grand affair is over, despite the demise of the Central Committee member MC Josephine which cast a pall of gloom over the party congress n its penultimate day.

According to IANS, one person who stood toweringly taller than others in the party was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The report said that he scripted, produced and directed the mega event.

The end of the party congress was marked with a mammoth rally that coursed through the streets with leaders travelling in an open top vehicle.

IANS said that covid protocols had been incidentally removed.

As it turned out, the event furthered Pinarayi's stature in the party, often shadowing general secretary Sitaram Yechury

Of course, Yechury got a third and final term of three years in the post.

Tamil Nadu chief Minister MK Stalin, coming to the exuberant welcome at the venue, spoke glowingly about Pinarayi.

Vijayan was the only leader to get the age exemption after the party decided to exclude those crossing 75 years from holding any party posts. Vijayan is 76 years old now.

There wasn't even a venial slip in the entire planning and conducting of the event. There wasn't a whimper of discontent over the distribution of party positions and memberships to the highest body of the party, the Polit Buro

No disgruntled leader with a fan-following was there to cry foul; there was not even an errant media briefing by any leader.

There were only speculations doing rounds in the media. A few of them were about who's who would get into the politburo.

Many surmised state leaders including Elamaram Kareem or A.K. Balan finding places in the top body.

However, few expected Vijayan's present close aide A. Vijayaraghavan getting an icing on the cake with the promotion to the politburo.

Vijayaraghavan's wife R.Bindhu, a college teacher, is holding the cabinet post of Minister of Higher Education.

Vijayan reportedly brought in the committee two of his cabinet colleagues P. Rajeeve and K.N. Balagopal, both in their mid-fifties and P. Sathi Devi and C.S. Sujatha.

Sathi Devi is currently the chairperson of the Kerala State Women's Commission. She is the sister of hugely popular CPI-M leader from Kannur, P. Jayarajan, who, however, is not in the good books of Vijayan now.

IANS quoted a media critic, who chose anonymity, as saying that Vijayan has become the supreme commander of the party, much above the general secretary.

He wondered if any other party could conduct a meeting like this without washing dirty linen in public and added "That is why the CPI-M is firm in Kerala"

(With inputs from IANS as well)