Litany of woes

When Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited Arvind Kejriwal recently in Delhi, he invited the Delhi chief minister to Kerala to try ayurveda for improving his voice and overall health. Whether Kejriwal will go to Kerala for treatment is not clear, but one thing is certain, the Pinarayi government needs an extensive treatment to improve its overall health.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front government which came to power with the tall promise of “making everything right”—an altogether apolitical catchphrase for a communist government—is lurching from one controversy to another. There is lack of unity within the government as the CPI(M) and the CPI, the second largest partner in the ruling coalition, speak in different languages on a range of issues. Loose talk by ministers and an ongoing tug-of-war between senior bureaucrats, too, have put the government in a spot.

Above all, there is an impression that Pinarayi, who ran the CPI(M) for 17 years with an iron fist, is still stuck in the past. That he is yet to learn the art of diplomacy and tack, is a comment which is heard often.

On April 24, the government faced further embarrassment when the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of former director general of police T.P. Senkumar, who was removed from the post by Pinarayi soon after he assumed office. Talking to THE WEEK, Senkumar said, “The SC judgement will boost the morale of honest police officers as it protects them. Now every government will think twice before removing honest officers.’’ Senkumar said he had handed over the Supreme Court order to the government and was expecting his appointment soon. The verdict is a huge setback for the chief minister, who is also the home minister.

“We all had great hopes for this government. But I must say that people are getting disillusioned,’’ said J. Devika, noted writer and academic. Devika, a senior faculty at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, said the government was sending out confusing signals. “On the one hand, the government is taking some really good policy initiatives like its transgender policy. Kerala is the first state to bring out such a policy. But at the same time, those who lead the government speak misogynistic and anti-poor language. It is quite disappointing,’’ she said.

Electricity Minister M.M. Mani

The government faced a lot of criticism over its inhuman treatment of Mahija Ashokan, the mother of Jishnu Prannoy, an engineering student who committed suicide allegedly because of the ill treatment he faced from the college management. She was arrested and dragged on the streets by the police after she arrived at the DGP’s office demanding action against those responsible for her son’s death.

Even as the government was trying to minimise the fallout from Mahija’s arrest, another controversy erupted in Munnar in Idukki district, with the revenue department going ahead with its plans to evict encroachers from the hill station. The CPI, which handles the revenue ministry, strongly supported the eviction drive. While the chief minister publicly admonished the district collector and sub collector for removing a cross installed by a controversial Christian sect on a piece of encroached land, the revenue minister backed his officers and declared that the evictions would continue. The situation worsened after M.M. Mani, the electricity minister who is from the district, allegedly made lewd remarks about Pembilai Orumai, an apolitical woman labourers’ collective in Munnar.

Former DGP T.P. Senkumar

“If we talk on astrological terms, it seems the time is not so good for Pinarayi. The government is getting into unnecessary controversies although Pinarayi is a man of good intentions and has great plans for the state,’’ said writer and former bureaucrat D. Babu Paul. “It is probably the unbridled hope that the common man has in Pinarayi, which is the reason behind such major disappointment. The greater the hope, the greater will be the fall,’’ he said.

The CPI has been quite critical of the shortcomings of the government. “The people chose us with huge expectations. But we have failed them on many counts. We must introspect,’’ said senior CPI leader Pannyan Raveendran. He said the root cause of the ongoing crisis was the “big brother attitude” of the CPI(M). “The stubborn attitude of the CM makes the matter further complicated,’’ he said.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, secretary of the state unit of the CPI(M), said by levelling charges publicly against the government, the CPI had become a weapon in the hands of the opposition. “The government is committed to the promises it has given to the people. We are on the right track,’’ he said.

Such major differences between the two largest parties in the ruling coalition have become the biggest cause of concern for the government. “The tussle between the leading parties is the root cause of all problems faced by this government. It has really dented its image,’’ said a senior government officer in charge of a number of important projects. In his opinion, the chief minister needed to be a little bit more diplomatic and open, while the CPI should tone down its over-the-top revolutionary zeal. “Kerala is a media-driven democratic space. The CM should realise that one should not just do things the right way, but should do so in a convincing manner,’’ he said.

That Pinarayi is not a good communicator and that he does not bother to be one is another major problem. Many ministers, in fact, call him “boss’’, a term unheard of in Kerala’s political parlance. “There is an impression that Pinarayi is like a dictator although many senior officials have told me otherwise,” said Paul. “In a media-driven society, impressions matter a lot. I hope Pinarayi will retrieve the situation and make a mark for himself.”