Pinarayi Vijayan named Opposition Leader through voting process; strong discontent among party workers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A report has claimed that the CPM Politburo decided to appoint Pinarayi Vijayan as the Opposition Leader in the Kerala Assembly through a voting process. It was a Malayalam news daily that reported this. According to the report, 10 out of 17 members present in the Politburo voted in favour of Pinarayi becoming the Opposition Leader.

Strong criticism was raised against the CPM state leadership and the second Pinarayi government during the Politburo meeting held on May 10 and 11 to assess the massive defeat suffered by the party in the assembly elections. At first, the Politburo had not decided to appoint Pinarayi as the Opposition leader. The general opinion within the PB was that a new leadership should emerge.

During the state committee meetings held on Wednesday and Thursday, severe criticism was raised against both the government and the party leadership. Despite this, only Pinarayi Vijayan's name was suggested in the Secretariat for the post of Opposition Leader. CPM General Secretary M A Baby informed the state leadership about the Politburo’s earlier stand, but no other names were proposed. Following this, M A Baby reportedly called an emergency online Politburo meeting on Thursday to discuss the Secretariat’s request.

Meanwhile, there is said to be dissatisfaction among party workers over Pinarayi Vijayan's appointment as Opposition Leader. Critics within the party point to the Congress party's success after replacing Ramesh Chennithala with V D Satheesan as Opposition Leader during the term of the second Pinarayi government. They argue that the leadership change helped Congress make electoral gains. Some party members also believe that CPM currently lacks young leaders who can gain the confidence of the public, and they warn that this could hurt the party in the future.