CPI(M) shake-up in Kerala: Govindan reprimanded, Pinarayi asked to change style

KOZHIKODE: The CPI(M) central leadership has intervened to address organisational weaknesses in the Kerala unit following the party's electoral defeat, reprimanding state secretary M.V. Govindan, asking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to change his style of functioning and restructuring the state secretariat.

Three new members — P. Jayarajan, M.B. Rajesh and V. Sivankutty — have been inducted into the state secretariat. Thomas Isaac and T.P. Ramakrishnan have been removed from the secretariat, though they will continue to be part of the state centre as Central Committee members.

The decisions followed sharp criticism at the extended state committee meeting in Kozhikode. Under General Secretary M.A. Baby, the central leadership pushed through a series of organisational changes, including restructuring the state secretariat and inducting nine permanent invitees into the state committee.

Govindan was reprimanded for lapses in discharging his responsibilities as state secretary. The central leadership held that there had been both personal and organisational lapses in the selection of candidates. The issue will also be reported to the lower levels of the organisation.
Although the state leadership had sought to avoid the reprimand, the intervention of the central leadership proved decisive.

The central leadership also directed Pinarayi Vijayan to make corrections to his style of functioning. Polit Bureau members took the position that a reorganisation of the state secretariat was necessary to address its weaknesses.

P. Jayarajan, regarded as a popular face of the party in Kannur, has been inducted into the state secretariat after 28 years in the state committee. He had entered the state committee in 1998. Polit Bureau member Ashok Dhawale proposed his name.

M.B. Rajesh and V. Sivankutty are the other two new secretariat members. As Central Committee members, Isaac and Ramakrishnan will continue to be part of the state centre. John Brittas, a Central Committee invitee, will also be part of the state centre and participate in state secretariat meetings.
Susan Kody, who had earlier been removed from the state committee over organisational issues in Karunagappally, has been reinstated.

Nine others have been made permanent invitees to the state committee. They are Jaick C. Thomas, SFI All India president Adarsh M. Saji, SFI state secretary P.S. Sanjeev, state president M. Sivaprasad, DYFI state secretary M. Vijin, N. Sukanya, O.S. Ambika, Subaida Isahaq and Prabha Varma.

There had been a local demand for N. Sukanya to be fielded from Taliparamba. The demand was rejected and P.K. Shyamala was fielded instead.

The organisational changes were viewed within the party as a setback for the Pinarayi Vijayan-M.V. Govindan leadership. The central leadership stressed the need for party workers to be convinced that the organisational weaknesses had been addressed.

It also emphasised the need for effective discussions in the state secretariat, with the view that decisions communicated by the leadership should not be accepted without criticism. A leadership culture in which the leadership's position was followed without adequate discussion was seen as weakening the organisation.

The sharp criticism raised by the Kannur district committee was subsequently echoed by party members from other districts, according to the assessment emerging from the discussions. The state leadership consequently faced growing criticism, while the intervention of M.A. Baby and other central leaders helped bring those dissatisfied with the state leadership together around the demand for corrective measures.