Outgoing CM Pinarayi Vijayan leaves the Thiruvananthapuram airport after arriving in the capital from his hometown Kannur on May 5, 2026. | Photo credit: Nirmal Harindran
Pinarayi Vijayan alone does not have to bear the “moral responsibility” for the defeat of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby said, stressing that the party functions as a collective entity and that Mr Vijayan campaigned as its top member.
Mr. Baby also did not clarify who within the LDF would fill the position of Leader of the Opposition, amid widespread speculation about whether Mr. Vijayan would do so. The CPI demanded the post of Vice-Chairman of the Opposition.
Mr Baba’s remarks come in the backdrop of CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam’s comments at the end of a two-day meeting of his party’s national council in New Delhi, where he said the electoral defeat was a warning that communist organizations must put the people first. He also called for an evaluation of whether the cadres of the left and those close to it distanced themselves from the movement. Without naming anyone, Mr. Viswam emphasized that individuals should not be elevated above ideology within Left parties, adding that it would be a mistake if such a tendency developed.
At a press conference at the party headquarters at the end of the two-day meeting of the CPI(M) Political Bureau, Mr. Baby, when asked whether Mr. Vijayan should resign from the Political Bureau and Central Committee and take responsibility for the defeat of the LDF, said, “Why should he bear the moral responsibility in Kerala? Our party is a collective entity.”
He further pointed out that Mr. Vijayan, the oldest leader both in age and experience, was campaigning in the state by virtue of his office. “If we win, we would call who will be the chief minister,” he said.
To a question from the Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, Mr. Baby said that the decision would be taken by the state unit and that it was not discussed in the political bureau meeting.
Mr. Baby described the LDF’s defeat as “shocking” despite what he called the commendable work the government had done over the past decade in fighting a “vindictive” Union government that had tried to strangle the state financially. He termed the BJP’s victory in three seats in Kerala as a “disturbing development”.
SIR exercise in Bengal
He further said that the BJP’s victory in West Bengal was not only due to the anti-incumbency against the Mamata Banerjee government but also due to the Special Intensive Revision exercise. “The entire electoral process in India today is very crippled, broken and untrustworthy,” Mr Baby said.
The CPI National Council also conducted a review on 9 and 10 May. At a press conference at the end of the session, CPI General Secretary D. Raja emphasized the need to build “a broad mass resistance against the anti-people, authoritarian and divisive policies of the RSS-BJP regime”.
“At a time when the country is witnessing unprecedented unemployment, soaring prices of essential commodities, deepening agrarian distress, increasing attacks on workers’ rights, communal polarization and systematic attacks on democratic institutions and federalism, there is a need to intensify direct political engagement with the masses,” Raja said. He announced that the CPI will organize nationwide marches from August 6 to August 15, 2026.
Published – 11 May 2026 22:29 IST
