‘Cult of Pinarayi Vijayan': Row over documentary as CPI(M) draws Oppn fire over ‘hero worship'
At the helm of Kerala, currently the only Left-ruled state in the country, for nine years, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who had earlier been the state CPI(M) secretary for 18 years, is now the subject of a documentary, 'Pinarayi the Legend', released ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
The CPI(M)-backed Kerala Secretariat Employees Association (KSEA) has produced this documentary, which was released on May 28 in the state capital to mark the Vijayan-led LDF government's fourth anniversary in its second consecutive term. Tamil actor-politician Kamal Haasan launched the documentary in the presence of Vijayan and a slew of Left leaders.
Speaking during the launch of the documentary, Vijayan said, 'I realise that the love you (KSEA) have shown me is your support and love towards the LDF. You have depicted that support considering me as its symbol.'
Although the glorification of a personality is not in sync with the CPI(M)'s ideology and policies, the documentary has been released by the KSEA barely four months after it launched a ballad celebrating Vijayan. Penned by a government employee linked to the association, the song was sung by 100 women during the KSEA's golden jubilee building inauguration. The song, which was performed in the presence of Vijayan, compared the CM to a 'phoenix' and the 'general of an army'.
Earlier, in 2022, during a CPI(M) district conference in Thiruvananthapuram, the party had arranged a mega thiruvathira, a traditional dance performed by women in the state, with hundreds of dancers performing to the tune of a song praising Vijayan. The song described Vijayan as 'karana bhuthan (the cause or person behind) the party shining across the world', and depicted him as the 'saviour' when severe flooding struck Kerala in 2018.
However, despite the party facing criticism for promoting a personality cult, CPI(M) state committee member M V Jayarajan maintains that Vijayan's legacy is worthy of such celebrations. 'The documentary cannot be considered as worship of an individual. It is about the legendary life of Vijayan and the good things his government has done over the last nine years. The documentary might have celebrated the government's achievements and it has got a historical perspective also,' said Jayarajan.
'Vijayan, as a leader of the student movement, had been in the forefront of the fight for universal education. After he became the CM, he ensured infrastructure development in schools in Kerala, spending around Rs 5,000 crore. Nobody can deny his long legacy and days of torture during the emergency period,' Jayarajan added.
Besides organising various cultural events on Vijayan's legacy, several CPI(M) leaders seemed to have conferred a cult status on the CM. Last year, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan had described Vijayan as the 'burning sun'. In April 2024, when Vijayan travelled abroad after polling ended in the Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader A K Balan countered allegations that the CM did not campaign for the INDIA bloc candidates outside Kerala by saying, 'Even God rested after six days of creating the universe, then why not Vijayan?'
Vijayan's case notwithstanding, the CPI(M) has traditionally opposed hero worship. In 2009, when Vijayan was the state CPI(M) secretary, there was some unease in the party over the individual popularity of his party rival and then CM V S Achuthanandan.
Known as a crowd-puller among the CPI(M) leaders, Achuthanandan created an impression that he had grown beyond the party, leading Vijayan to publicly say that 'outside the party, a leader is nothing'. Vijayan buttressed his point by citing lines from an Urdu anecdote, giving the example of a boy who tried to collect the roaring sea into a bucket. When the water in the bucket did not generate waves, Vijayan said, the child was told that the water attained its full strength only when it was in the sea. Similarly, Vijayan said, a leader gained support when he remained within the party.
In 2018, when CPI(M) activists in Kannur released a video titled 'Crimson son of Kannur' on senior leader P Jayarajan, the CPI(M) had come out against it, saying that the personality cult will not be accepted. Jayarajan came under fire for allegedly glorifying himself and thus going against the party's practices.
The principal Opposition Congress has now targeted the CPI(M) for centralising power for a single person in a departure from its previous practices.
State Congress spokesperson Jyothikumar Chamakkala said, 'The LDF, CPI(M) and the party-led government have got centralised to a single person Vijayan… None in the CPI(M) is courageous enough to speak out against Vijayan turning into an autocrat and promoting hero worship culture… Decades back, it was the CPI(M) that stood for decentralisation of power in the state government.'
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