Waiting to rule God's own country
"We are winning. Kerala is being saved," says the CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan during most of his campaigning.
But is Vijayan on a good wicket? Till elections were announced, he was calling the shots in his party. Now, he suddenly finds himself eclipsed by archrival V S Achuthanandan. Vijayan is not contesting elections, but he has considerable clout in the party echelons. This could make Achuthanandan's push for the post of chief minister a hot issue if the LDF were to come to power.
Does he feel belittled by the sudden change of fortunes? "It is all the creation of a section of the Malayalam media," says Vijayan. "Our party is not like the Congress, where leaders are more important than the party and ethics. In our party, people and workers are more important than leaders."
Does he see Achuthanandan as a chief ministerial candidate? "In the CPI(M), we do not project any chief ministerial candidate. We decide after the elections. It is a decision left to the party politburo and elected MLAs," he says.
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