Opinion | Why A 'Defeat' Is Now Essential For The Disoriented Left In Kerala

An expression attributed to King Louis XV of France is "Après moi, le deluge" (After me, the deluge). Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's desperate attempts to cling to power with a public relations overdrive might be reminiscent of the nihilistic statement. For, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which the octogenarian has been leading since 1998 in Kerala, is showing clear signs of decay.

The undivided Communist Party, which came to power democratically in the first election held to the state Assembly in 1957, has been an integral part of Kerala politics ever since. However, unlike its uninterrupted 34-year stint in West Bengal, the Left had never managed to win a successive term in Kerala until 2021, when Vijayan managed to buck that trend. The initial euphoria notwithstanding, a section of the Left base in Kerala has been increasingly vocal about leaders getting drunk on power and using all means to perpetuate it.

Bengal Redux?

In Gangster State: The Rise And Fall of the CPI-M in West Bengal, author Sourjya Bhowmick uses the iconic lines "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" from Charles Dickens to describe the final term of the party in Bengal. He recalls how the party went from its peak to getting decimated in 2011, wondering if the youth were drawn to it due to ideology or were driven merely by power. Such a situation has also been brewing in Kerala for a while now, shaped by the trappings of power and visible loss of Communist values.

So much so that poet and Kerala Sahitya Akademi president K Satchidandan himself came out publicly demanding that the Left should stay out of power for a term to regenerate itself. This was reminiscent of poetess Mahaswetha Devi publicly questioning the Buddhadeb regime in West Bengal in 2007. Satchidanandan's exhortation has since come to vertically split Kerala's literary and cultural space. Noted litterateurs Sarah Joseph, Kalpetta Narayanan, and MN Karassery have all reiterated his prophecy that the Left will be beyond salvation in the state if it gets another term.

A String Of Desertions

Satchidanandan was particularly critical of Vijayan's appeasement of community leaders like Vellappally Natesan, despite the latter making several sectarian statements against the Muslim community. The rot the CPI-M is seeing in Kerala has been visible even in the electoral arena, with several veteran leaders across the state deserting the party ahead of the polls. These include G Sudhakaran, the seniormost leader of the party outside Malabar, and the duo of TK Govindan and P Kunhikrishnan in Kannur. Those who quit have referred to ideological issues, such as an alleged right turn of the party under Vijayan's stewardship, along with nepotism and corruption.

It was inconceivable even a decade ago that there would be desertions (likened to apostasy in the past) in the CPI-M's Kannur unit, where tribal kinship to the party trumped every other societal connection. G Sudhakaran's quitting, who had served as minister under Vijayan during the first term, came as a jolt to the party in its cradle in Travancore.

If P Kunhikrishnan's rebellion in Kannur was sparked by corruption perpetuated by Payyannur MLA PI Madhusoodanan, his candidature as an independent (supported by the Congress) was prompted by the CPI-M's refusal to act against the erring leader. Veteran TK Govindan's exit was a reaction to the candidature of PK Shyamala - wife of namesake MV Govindan, the CPI-M state secretary - thrust down the Kannur district committee by the party. In fact, this is a repetition of the 2021 arrangement when the CPI-M-nominated R Bindu - wife of then state secretary A Vijyaraghavan in Irinjalakkuda - was elevated as minister, along with PA Mohammed Riyas, son-in-law of Vijayan.

Vijayan's Right Turn

Many feel that Vijayan's right turn was evident in his first term itself from, for instance, the way he shielded police excesses, such as in the alleged fake encounters of Maoists. There are echoes of Bengal in it; Sourjya Bhowmick recounts how the term "urban-Naxal" owed its coinage to the Bengal Marxists. The working-class character of the CPI-M in Kerala has undergone a significant transformation, and this has been exacerbated by Vijayan's brand of appeasement of community outfits under the garb of 'social engineering'.

This has ultimately resulted in Left cadres gradually identifying more with religion and less with their identity as Communists. No wonder then that a section of Marxist cadres was swayed by the Sabarimala agitation, and the party adopted a more flexible position in its wake.

The Number-One Man

The principle of democratic centralism has also invariably led to the concentration of power with Vijayan, without any line of succession. In Murali Gopy's Left Right Left (2013), Kaitheri Sahadevan - the character modelled on Pinarayi Vijayan - states, "to beat the bourgeoisie, you have to be a bigger bourgeoisie". Vijayan's tenures as Chief Minister have come to define that famous dialogue, with the Marxist party acquiring bourgeois characteristics, beating even the Congress's record. When the CPI-M adopted Vijayan's controversial 'Nava Kerala document' at its Ernakulam conference in 2022 and got it stamped by the Politburo, Vijayan basically overrode general secretary Sitaram Yechury, the party's numero uno.

It can be argued that, like 'Mao Thought' in China, 'Pinarayism' has come to replace Marxism in Kerala. It was once predicted that capitalism would not survive due to its own contradictions; in this case, however, the CPI-M seems to be suffering from an identity crisis of sorts. British political scientist Archie Brown writes of three kinds of Communists in his seminal work, The Rise and the Fall of Communism. According to Brown, people who enlist themselves in a Communist party that rules perpetually are opportunists, unlike those who fight their way through hostile systems.

Looking Within

The practice of self-correction and stock-taking after election losses has come to be substituted with brazenness and arrogance. According to old-school Marxists in the state, losing is as important as winning elections, as defeats hold more lessons than victory. There is also another group that worries that a loss at this stage will be difficult to come back from - even if the CPI-M remains well-entrenched in Kerala.

In any case, the Left losing its last bastion is a dreadful thought to Communists in general, but many of them deem it a necessary setback, one that will help the party rid itself of its maladies. Nonetheless, the jury is still out on whether it will be Bengal redux or the CPI-M can regenerate itself and mount a comeback in five years' time if the CPI-M loses the forthcoming election in Kerala. 

(Anand Kochukudy is a senior journalist and columnist)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author