Which of the two stalwarts will lead the CPI-M-led bloc in the upcoming Kerala assembly elections? Former chief minister VS Achuthanandan or party strongman Pinarayi Vijayan?
The elections are expected in April or May, so this question is ringing out loud within both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) that the CPI-M leads and outside.
Going by the past one decade of political events, there is no doubt that the 92-year-old Achuthanandan is perhaps the biggest crowd puller in Kerala.
But those who know the organisational abilities and strengths of 71-year-old Vijayan and the way he handled the power ministry in the 1990s say he is firmly in the race.
The two men are known to be at loggerheads within the CPI-M in Kerala, now the only state in the country besides Tripura where the Marxists have a chance to taste power again.
Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), has a stock answer: “Ours is not a bourgeois party which names its leader ahead of elections.”
Party Not to Field Achuthanandan?
As things stand now, Vijayan appears to have edged out Achuthanandan. He is leading his party’s statewide ‘yatra’ from the northern district of Kasaragod. It will pass through all the 140 assembly constituencies in Kerala before ending in this state capital next month.
Ahead of the yatra, he took centre stage at the two-day meeting which worked out a blueprint of the programmes and policies to be pursued if the Left returns to power after a gap of five years.
Achuthanandan enjoys the support of Left allies. On both occasions, the party decided not to field Achuthanandan in assembly elections. But it made a U-turn following public outcry. He went on to become the chief minister in 2006.
Five years later, in 2011, he became Leader of Opposition, a post he currently holds.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)