THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For nearly a decade, Pinarayi Vijayan has dominated Kerala’s political landscape with an authority that a few Chief Ministers in the state’s history have wielded.
Within the CPI(M), he has emerged as the unchallenged helmsman and within the government, the final arbiter. That aura of invincibility, however, is beginning to fray -- and the most telling sign is not coming from the opposition, but from within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) itself.
The first salvo was fired by the CPI, which is the second-largest ally in the ruling coalition.
Its leadership convened a meeting to review the LDF’s disappointing performance in the recent local body elections, which arrived at an unusually blunt conclusion: the need for correction, and that responsibility rests squarely with CM Vijayan.
In Kerala’s Left politics, where allies traditionally choose euphemism over confrontation, this was no minor departure. It marked a clear shift from whispered discontent to open signalling.