The other Pinarayi: From deep red to light saffron

It was a meeting held at Parapram near Pinarayi in 1939 that had paved the way for the formalisation of the communist party,that had been formed two years earlier,in the state.

Given the formidable history of the place,few rivals dare contest here,fearing physical assault by CPM supporters. However,for the past few days,the BJP candidate from Dharmadam (the constituency under which Pinarayi falls),C P Sangeetha,has been on the narrow roads of the village,campaigning with her entourage of a dozen men and women supporters.

As posters of Che Guevara look down upon him from electrical posts,BJP campaign manager Kalathil Surendran says,“This is our first open campaign for an Assembly election. Since the CPM was the only party in Pinarayi,the BJP never dared to come out and seek votes. Our supporters were worried about physical assault. This time,we have not had a single incident with CPM workers.”

It was the 1,250 votes the BJP got in the local body elections in Pinarayi in October 2010,without any tangible election work,that first gave the party heart. In the 2006 Assembly elections,it had got less than 500 votes here.

“The fear factor still lingers,but the presence of sleeper cells here gives us confidence to openly solicit votes. We do not have enough volunteers in Pinarayi,but the response from houses is encouraging,” says Surendran.

According to local leaders,Pinarayi and nearby Communist bastions are slowly “growing into an age of political indifference”. The intolerance towards the Sangh Parivar has come down and die-hard Marxist elements are on the wane. During the elections,the CPM has to pay its volunteers for campaign work,like elsewhere in Kerala.

Signficantly,the BJP has found another way to make inroads. Many temples in the region,once run by individuals or traditional families,have been taken over by the party over the past decade under the guise of people’s committees.

“The involvement in temple affairs might have prompted party workers to warm up towards the Sangh Parivar,’’ observes Sreedharan Unni,an astrologer at Pinarayi. Unni was a local CPM leader two decades back,engaged in rolling beedis for the party-run cooperative Kerala Dinesh Beedi. “After quitting the party in the ‘80s,I turned to astrology,” he says.

There is another trend he points to,indicative of the change in Pinarayi. Though the CPM and its youth outfits preach against astrology,Unni does not have a dearth of customers.

“Apolitical trends are on the rise among the youth in Communist villages. Even if the party snubs religious practice,the number of pilgrims from the region is on the rise,” says Unni,adding that many youths join the CPM expecting a job in the party-backed cooperative ventures.

Says local leader Pandyala Shaji: “The slow disappearance of the CPM-sponsored beedi cooperative movement,which had employed thousands,has contributed to the predicament. While rolling beedis,one used to read out newspapers to the workers. That exercise had politically enlightened a generation.”

Old-time comrade Narayanan,who runs a shop in front of R C Amala Basic School,Pinarayi,adds: “There was a time when shops in Pinarayi were asked to sell only beedi made by the party-run cooperative Dinesh Beedi… Nobody would now dare issue such a diktat. I am selling three other brands of beedi now.”

Narayanan even blames his dedication towards the party for his woes now. “I could not concentrate on the education of my six children,none of whom went beyond high school,” he rues.

At a wholesaler rice dealer’s shop,there is another indication that the party that once symbolised Pinarayi is now gradually falling out of touch with it. Above the shop,an election board of CPM candidate K K Narayanan looms large,promising “rice at Rs 2 per kg for all”. Below,people stream in,asking for branded rice that the shop has stocked in its four rooms. “Even people from lower strata consume the branded rice,priced at above Rs 23,” says a trader.