Opinion Fade to black

By any political reckoning, Pinarayi Vijayan is a strong chief minister. The CPM leader has few internal rivals in the otherwise faction-ridden party in Kerala, and he has led the LDF to consecutive assembly election victories — a first in the state since 1977. Yet, going by his state cabinet colleagues, party acolytes and the police, Vijayan has a curious vulnerability: The colour black.

Since July 2020, when the gold smuggling case first surfaced, many of the high and mighty in Kerala politics and government have been under the scanner. Protests have often accompanied the twists and turns in the case — it has seen accusations against senior IAS officers and the CM’s family. As recently as this Sunday, Vijayan was greeted with black flags in Thrissur and Malappuram districts, despite tight patrolling. Members of the state Congress also released black balloons. Left Front leaders see in these protests an attempt to embarrass the CM and government, and have asked why protesters insist on just one colour to highlight their grievances.

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Isn’t it the Opposition’s job to try and embarrass the government on alleged corruption? Wouldn’t the CPM have done the same, in Opposition? And given that the CPM still lays claim to being a revolutionary organisation and often takes lofty positions on free speech and protest vis a vis the Centre, its seeing red at black flags is off-key. Officially, the government has denied it, yet the police have forced people at public meetings to remove black masks and clothing and members of the government and party see in the protests a “ploy to harm the CM”. Clearly, the party of the “revolution” is vulnerable to the same insecurities — and perhaps more so — as those it ranges itself so self-righteously against.