Beyond promises, Pinarayi pays price for ‘right’ turn

strategy drives UDF poll sweep

- M P PRASHANTH @kozhikode

TILL the counting of votes started on the morning of May 4, Pinarayi Vijayan was the hero of hardcore party workers, who reposed an unreasonable faith in him and expected a miracle from the leader to return the LDF to power for a third time.

They could hardly believe the television news flashes which showed that the ‘invincible’ Pinarayi was trailing a political novice in his home turf of Dharmadom in the initial rounds of counting.

The Pyrrhic victory — with a much-reduced margin and a washout of the CPM in party strongholds — have dented Pinarayi’s image of a ‘captain who can steer the ship even in troubled waters’. Now, he is seen as a tragic figure presiding over a party that is increasingly on the back foot in electoral politics in the country.