How Sabarimala issue, Kerala floods helped Pinarayi Vijayan emerge 'stronger, nicer'

Omchery N.N. Pillai, a doyen of Malayalam theatre, had once gone to Kerala House in Delhi to meet Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. "I had gone there in an anticipation of meeting a 'fascist'. Instead, I met a 'humanist',” recollected Omchery in his autobiography, which was released last week.

The aforementioned experience is an impression many in Kerala have started sharing these days. It is another story that those close to Vijayan would insist that he is still the same person. “Only that more people have got to know him beyond the image the media had created,” Vijayan's acquaintances would tell you.

May be.

But it is a fact that Pinarayi has emerged stronger and “nicer'' after the flood which had wreaked havoc in the state in August. “The year 2018 belongs to Pinarayi Vijayan. The way he handled the crisis posed by flood showed the stern stuff he is made of. He literally hand held the state out of the deluge with his incomparable leadership qualities,'' said writer Anila Balakrishnan.

According to her, the confidence and positivity that this otherwise reticent chief minister offered to the public through his daily press conferences during the days of flood was commendable.

This was corroborated by Vidya C.K., whose house in Kalady was submerged in the flood.

“His everyday press conferences were so reassuring. It gave us the energy to tide over every night during those times of flood,” said Vidya. “We felt we have someone to take care of us. We trusted him and to have someone you can trust is a big thing in the time of crisis,” she added.

Vijayan did not resort to any gimmicks during the Kerala floods. He did not go out to flood-affected areas and hug the victims to create photo opportunities. Pinarayi Vijayan just did his job well. And he did that in his typical no-nonsense manner.

This was corroborated by State Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac when he talked about the confidence that Vijayan instilled in his colleagues during that time of crisis. “We could survive the flood, despite the antagonistic attitude of the Centre, only because of the confidence that our CM showed. Everyone understood the importance of an able leadership,” said Isaac.

Even if Vijayan, who was facing some health issues during the time of the floods, was worried by the rushing water, he did not show it. Vijayan used to attend phone calls personally even at midnight during the floods.

People close to him said Vijayan did look flustered once during the Kerala floods. “That was the day, when the water levels of all rivers were rising amid non-stop rains. I have never seen him that worried. But he looked better after making a few phone calls,'' said a close confidante of Vijayan.

Vijayan's decision not to hand over flood management to the Central forces when Kerala was facing the worst-ever floods in a century had shocked many. “Seeking the help of Central forces would have been the easiest thing to do as one can easily wash [off the issue from] one's hands. But not for Pinarayi,'' said Isaac.

One can call him arrogant, iron fisted, or even a centrist. But Vijayan can never be fake; nor can he be meek.

It is the same combative attitude that Vijayan showed while reacting to the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court that allowed entry to women of all ages to the Sabarimala Temple. The judgment was nothing short of opening the proverbial Pandora's box. It was bound to create much unrest among believers and divide Kerala society. But Vijayan welcomed the Supreme Court judgment on Sabarimala immediately and said his government would implement it in letter and spirit.

The haste and aggression with which Vijayan decided to implement the Supreme Court judgment was something many—including senior leaders of the CPI(M)—did not like. Many felt that it was going to be Vijayan's Achilles heel as faith and religion had never been the strong points of a Communist.

“Many shared the feeling that the CM need not have taken such an aggressive posture as it was something where religion and age-old beliefs were involved,'' said a CPI(M) state committee member.

This leader was certainly worried about the way Vijayan's aggression on the Sabarimala issue would affect the CPI(M). Many felt he should have bought some more time in implementing the Supreme Court verdict. Some felt Vijayan should have been more 'diplomatic' in responding to the Supreme Court verdict.

But diplomacy has never been one of Vijayan's strong points.

Vijayan's aggressive posturing did turn a large section of people against the CPI(M)-led government. Sections of the Hindu community, mainly upper caste groups, took on the government with equal aggression. The opposition parties—the Congress and BJP—tried their best to fish in troubled waters. At the height of the Sabarimala protests, Kerala appeared to have fallen into such turmoil that there was a time when many smelt a second “liberation struggle”—the agitation that had brought the first ever democratically elected Communist government, led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad, down.

But that was not to be the case.

Lekshmy Rajeev, a well-known writer who actively voiced her support in favour of women's entry into Sabarimala, is all praise for the way Vijayan handled the issue. “The CM handled the situation effectively with his tight grip and followed it up with required administrative measures. Without him, it could have turned so much worse,” she said.

“Pinarayi is a person who has a firm grip on what he does, whether someone likes it or not,” said K.P. Sethunath, a senior media professional. Sethunath added that though he has reservations about the way Vijayan handled the Sabarimala issue on environmental grounds, Sethunath felt that only Vijayan could have taken such a decision.

“That he never backtracked, despite the mounting pressure, shows the sternness of his character. And that he managed Sabarimala without allowing any untoward incident is a big thing,” Sethunath added.

According to him, Vijayan had exposed both the opposition parties on Sabarimala, especially the BJP, with his sternness, which verges on stubbornness.

Sethunath's inferences appear to be correct when one sees the way politics is unfolding. The Congress state unit, which had taken a stand against the entry of women into Sabarimala—which incidentally was against the position of its national president Rahul Gandhi—left the agitation midway. The BJP, which initially looked at the Sabarimala issue as a “golden opportunity”, looks exposed with its desperation.

Even as the only CPI(M) chief minister in the country seems to be taking the correct steps, there are many who think that Vijayan is yet to 'evolve' into being the chief minister. “He is still in the mould of the party secretary where he could dictate everything and others would obey. He must understand that being the CM of a state like Kerala is a totally different ball game. He has to be more democratic,” said a media professional who did not want to be named.

“As someone who attends his cabinet briefings, I feel that he needs to improve his relationship with the media drastically. He must realise that one becomes a good ruler not just by doing good things but also by creating the perception in the minds of the public and media that he is doing a good job,” added this senior journalist.

But how far will Vijayan be able to adapt into the mould of a diplomat remains a question. “Pinarayi Vijayan, the politician, was not created by the media. Rather, he grew fighting against the RSS and also against the vested interests of a section of the media. So if you ask him to be more diplomatic, he may not listen,'' said an official in the Chief Minister's Office in half jest.

That may be the case. Once, when told by a family friend that he should smile more often in the age of live media, Vijayan retorted, “I smile only when there is a reason to smile. I can only be myself.”

Well, that is Pinarayi Vijayan for you.