With Pinarayi Vijayan’s health a matter of concern, is CPI(M) looking ahead?

Thiruvananthapuram, July 22

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is rarely seen in public ever since his return from a trip to the US, Cuba and the UAE, last month and according to credible sources, his health is a point of concern and the CPI(M) has even started to look ahead.

Under constant medical care, the 78-year-old veteran at times flies to Chennai and has been to the US a few times for checkups.

Soon after he returned from the US, he remained indoors followed by a basic ayurvedic rejuvenation therapy at his official residence.

After his foreign trip, he has drastically cut down on his public functions, but regularly visits the state party headquarters and chairs the weekly cabinet meetings.

Incidentally, the first time he appeared before the media after a five months absence was when he went to pay his last respects to his predecessor- Oommen Chandy who passed away on Monday.

Prior to it, he last met the media in the first week of February. Despite quite a few serious issues both political and otherwise, he avoids the media. For the CPI(M), Kerala is the last bastion and at the moment things are the least rosy in West Bengal and Tripura and hence the national leadership of the party is closely watching the developments in the state. The upcoming central committee meeting of the party is going to be crucial in view of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

The CPI(M) has just one seat out of the 20 in Kerala as they were wiped out in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Before that there is going to be the Puthuppally Assembly by-election and with Vijayan’s health a point of concern, it’s pointed out that’s perhaps the reason why the party did not allow new State Secretary of the party M.V.Govindan to resign his legislator’s position.

In the past, it has always been the practice to quit as a legislator after being elected to the state secretary’s post. Hence the coming weeks and months things are going to be a bit hectic for the CPI(M) as crucial decisions are expected to be made.