Last year, when the pandemic began wreaking havoc in India, people in Kerala formed a new habit. Every day at 6pm, they would gather in front of the television to listen to a man who was not known to be media-friendly. Like a disciplinarian headmaster who rarely smiled, he would give updates regarding the pandemic and the measures the state government was adopting to mitigate the crisis. He made sure that nobody in the state went hungry, asked men to support women in household chores, and even advised people to take care of stray dogs during the lockdown. He would wind up the briefing at 7pm, but in that one hour he gave Malayalis something they deeply valued during the difficult times—a sense of security.
No wonder that Kerala has re-elected him, Pinarayi Vijayan, as its chief minister for the next five years, too. Under Vijayan, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) swept the assembly polls, winning 99 of 140 seats. The Congress-led United Democratic Front bagged 41 seats, while the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance drew a blank, losing even the lone assembly seat it had won in 2016. Vijayan has become the first Kerala chief minister to complete his term and win the following election.
“This election belongs to Vijayan,” said writer Paul Zacharia. “The opposition stood no chance, because people trusted him. He delivered on what he had promised and people could not imagine anybody else in that chair. Malayalis were watching what was happening in other states, and they knew they were in safe hands.”
Denne historien er fra May 16, 2021-utgaven av THE WEEK.
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