Thiruvananthapuram, June 25 CPI-M legislator Kadakampally Surendran has fired his first salvo, though indirectly, against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s son-in-law and State Minister of Tourism P.A. Mohammed Riyas.
This comes at a time when the stock of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has hit rock bottom.
Ever since the ruling CPI-M-led Left which was led by Vijayan at the recent Lok Sabha polls managed to get just one seat out of the 20 in the state, the once invincible Vijayan has come under fire from both within the party and from the allies.
Incidentally, Surendran and first-time legislator Riyas do not have the best of relations, which was visible on the floor of the assembly some time back. On Monday, it surfaced yet again, when Surendran fired salvos against the way the Tourism department is run.
However, in his reply, Riyas sidestepped the issue that Surendran raised.
Riyas’ status in the party increased hugely after he got married (second marriage of both) to Veena Vijayan -- daughter of Vijayan in June 2020.
He won the 2021 assembly polls from the CPI-M stronghold Beypore constituency and when the cabinet was formed, he was made State Minister of Public Works and Tourism, which raised eyebrows.
Once in the government with a prime portfolio, resentment grew when he was given an elevation in the party’s organisation structure when he was inducted into the powerful 17-member state secretariat of the Kerala unit of the CPI-M, a powerful body of the party.
Since then not many in the party were very happy and tongues started waging when three top-notch leaders in the party -- two of them legislators -- were asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
This, according to many, was a ploy by Vijayan to ensure that if they won, they would go to the Lok Sabha and if they lost, they would not get the support when 79-year-old Vijayan, having health problems, looked for a successor.
Incidentally, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, just the other day on the floor of the assembly pointed out that things have come to a stage where Vijayan when cornered on the floor of the House, gets support only from Riyas.
With the national leadership announcing that later this month they will analyse the debacle, it remains to be seen, if the undue importance given to Riyas will surface and if it does, then it’s going to hit the father-in-law and son-in-law duo hard.
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