'Captain' on sticky wicket: Bypoll defeat, gold scam queer Pinarayi's pitch

To Pinarayi, a victory in Thrikkakara would have come as public endorsement of his development initiatives, including controversial K-Rail project, which has witnessed widespread protest

A ‘Captain comrade’ who has led Kerala in crisis in the past, steering the Left ship to safe waters in the 2021 Assembly elections with a thumping win and rewriting the state’s political history of voters swinging between the Congress and Communists once in five years, Chief Minister (CM) Pinarayi Vijayan is seen as both an able administrator and a slick propagandist by his followers. But his personality cult needs careful examination.

His detractors call him ‘Modi in Mundu’, owing to his style of functioning. But the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), strongman is facing one of the