Thiruvananthapuram: In a candid admission that Pinarayi Vijayan’s face may well no longer be a advertising asset for the celebration, the CPI-M has dropped the chief minister’s photo from all its election material for the regional physique polls.
The ruling Left Democratic Front’s election campaign is also marked by the absence of the chief minister in the meetings of ruling front candidates.
It requires considerable embarrassment for the celebration leaders to clarify such a departure. So-referred to as celebration intellectuals such as M V Govindan, who is a Central Committee member, seek to justify Pinaryi Vijayan’s absence, claiming that there is no want for the chief minister to campaign for the regional physique elections.
He insists that despite the fact that Vijayan’s photo is missing from election posters and hoardings, it is the chief minister himself who is top the LDF in the elections. The power for the campaign continues to be supplied by the chief minister, he avers.
Political observers think gone are the days when a mere frown from Pinarayi Vijayan was adequate for the red flag at the celebration headquarter AKG Bhavan not to flutter. A expanding section of the celebration believes that the chief minister may well be a liability in instances of election, as no other chief minister of Kerala has ever faced such corruption charges.
The CM’s left-hand man, former principal secretary M Sivasankar is in the custody of central investigation agencies, answering concerns about his direct involvement in gold smuggling and other scams, though his appropriate-hand man, added private secretary C M Raveendran has been summoned by the investigators in connection with alleged benami bargains.
With new disclosures coming on a day-to-day basis, the shadow of investigations is lengthening to the chief minister himself and for the initially time, the CM’s household is also below a cloud.
Key accused in the twin scams of gold smuggling and housing commission, Swapna Suresh and P S Sarith have been recording their confidential deposition for the third day operating. A court choice on the bail application of Sivasankar has referred to the involvement of ‘big sharks’ in the gold smuggling and funds laundering instances.
The investigators are now organizing to query Sivasankar and Raveendran collectively, which may possibly bring forth answers to a lot of unanswered concerns. This is anticipated to make the chief minister’s position even additional vulnerable.
This has emboldened a dominant section of the celebration to query the authoritarian methods of the chief minister, who has so far enjoyed comprehensive handle of the celebration and the government. Vijayan’s detractors have utilised Vijayan’s embarrassment in possessing to bow down to the demand for the withdrawal of the controversial Police ordinance and the open ‘revolt’ by finance minister Thomas Isaac in questioning the Vigilance raids at the offices of a finance ministry corporate physique.
It is in this context that observers view the absence of Pinarayi pictures from the election campaign material, which was unthinkable for most portion of his unchallenged handle of the celebration and the government.