Hurt Shamseer breaks silence, fires first salvo at Pinarayi Vijayan

Malappuram, July 30
In what is being seen as the first public broadside by a senior CPI(M) leader against former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's political strategy, former Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer has openly listed what he believes were the key reasons behind the LDF's crushing defeat in the Assembly elections.

Addressing the Kunjali Martyrs' Day commemoration at Kalikavu in Malappuram, Shamseer admitted that the Left had failed to effectively counter Vellappally Natesan's criticism, conceded that candidate selection in Payyannur and Taliparamba had gone wrong, and acknowledged that the Ayyappa Sangamam controversy and the party's decision to politically embrace Vellappally had backfired.

"Even we did not think we would lose like this. We were expecting a third consecutive term in office. When the postal votes were counted, we were leading. But after that, everything slipped away," Shamseer said, in one of the most candid admissions yet by a senior CPI(M) leader on the electoral debacle.

While Shamseer did not name Vijayan, his remarks are widely being interpreted within party circles as an indirect indictment of decisions associated with the former Chief Minister's leadership, particularly on campaign strategy and candidate selection.

His comments also come against the backdrop of his own uneasy relationship with the Vijayan leadership.

After winning a second consecutive term from Thalassery in 2021, Shamseer was widely regarded as a strong contender for a Cabinet berth.

However, when the ministry was announced, his name was conspicuously absent. Instead, P.A. Mohammed Riyas, a first time MLA and Vijayan's son-in-law, was inducted into the Cabinet and entrusted with one of its most high profile portfolios.

The move triggered considerable resentment within sections of the party, with many viewing it as an example of favouritism and nepotism.

Shamseer was eventually accommodated as Speaker of the Kerala Assembly, but only after M.V. Govindan resigned as a minister to take over as CPI(M) state secretary.

The reshuffle saw then Speaker M.B. Rajesh enter the Cabinet, while Shamseer assumed the Speaker's chair, a post that party insiders say fell short of his expectations of becoming a minister.

His disappointment reportedly deepened ahead of the latest Assembly elections when the CPI(M) dropped him from Thalassery, the constituency he had represented for two consecutive terms.

Against this political backdrop, Shamseer's unusually blunt assessment of the LDF's defeat is likely to be viewed as more than routine self-criticism.

It signals the first visible crack in the wall of public silence that had surrounded Vijayan's leadership after the Left's electoral rout, and could embolden other leaders to openly question the decisions that shaped the party's campaign and eventual defeat.