Thiruvananthapuram: The practice of placing persons or leaders on a higher pedestal than that of the party is not a Communists’ way of doing things. Whenever individuals attempted to rise above the party, the party was quick to intervene and correct them. The individual worship and admiration for the leaders that started with M V Raghavan, continued with V.S. Achuthanandan and P Jayarajan and has now reached Pinarayi Vijayan in the CPM. Now with Vijayan, the level of worship for the leader also seems to have changed.
Pinarayi, who had stated to the party workers earlier that 'it is the party, not individuals that matters', at a time when V.S. rose to a higher pedestal, is now called the ‘captain’.
Usually, within the Communist Party Marxist (CPM) such admiration and worship for the leaders among the grassroots workers manifest in different grades during the election times. It is still being debated whether the term ‘Captain’ is based on admiration for him or not. The initial explanations were in the lines that the CPM workers from various sections started referring to Vijayan as the ‘Captain’ as he is leading the party in the Assembly elections. However, as Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and P Jayarajan revealed their stands on addressing Vijayan as the ‘captain’. Pinarayi Vijayan’s earlier stands regarding person worship within the party has hit back.
Pinarayi Vijayan said that there is no need to create confusion in the matter of people addressing him as ‘Captain’. He said people may address him in many ways as they like. With the CPM Polit Bureau member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stating that Pinarayi Vijayan is a comrade, not a captain for the party, more discussions ensued. Kodiyeri added that Pinarayi Vijayan is the party’s asset, a leader groomed by time.
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As the discussions continued, Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretary Kanam Rajendran also came up with his stand in the matter. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is a comrade, not the captain.
"He is being referred to as Captain by the media and social media," said Rajendran.
The CPI state secretary also added that the Government’s achievements are not some magic created by a person, but the achievement of implementing the development plans of the ruling alliance.
P Jayarajan went one step ahead and wrote a Facebook post referring to Pinarayi as ‘Captain’. Excerpts from P Jayarajan’s FB post, originally in Malayalam read: ‘... Some would express their love by making songs, treasuring photographs and doing tattoos. As Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said, all are comrades in the party. It is not individuals, but the party and the Left Alliance that is an assurance for the people.'
When Jayarajan says so, it would also be backed by some old stories. When P Jayarajan was named accused in the Kathiroor Manoj murder case, the Police had charged him under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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The CPM called for ‘explanatory’ meetings at area centres against this move. In these meetings, the explanations readied by the party were all praises for Jayarajan. After lauding the palliative programmes implemented by Jayarajan, a Facebook page was also started by the name PJ Army for Jayarajan.
Video songs were written, produced and released soon with the contents praising Jayarajan as the hero of the soil. With this, the party was back to remind the good old rule against ‘hero worship’ within the CPM. Jayarajan got a strong warning and was criticised by the State committee.
It is clear that Pinarayi Vijayan has always stood strong against individual worship within the CPM. As time passed by, Pinarayi Vijayan himself is being called the Captain by the party workers and Pinarayi ‘fans’. Pinarayi Vijayan himself had to say not to create confusion on the people referring to him as the captain. When the Government led by Pinarayi and the CPM party are all set to face the polls in the next two days, there may be people who wish the Vijayan becomes the ‘captain’ to lead the government for another term. However, the CPM’s policy is clear that there should not be any individual worship in the party.
The question of whether calling Pinarayi a Captain is ‘hero worship’ or not is left for elaborate discussions based on dialectical logic. When the CPM hopes to win the elections and create a history in Kerala, let Pinarayi Vijayan continue to be the captain of the team - of the CPM party and of the LDF Government. However, the captain and his team should keep in mind that there is another people’s leader, V.S Achuthanandan who does not react to all these although he keenly observes what is happening in his party.
