Should Pinarayi Vijayan lead Kerala a 3rd time? CPI(M) state meet to decide

The Kerala state conference of the CPI(M) began on Thursday, 6 March, with discussions focusing on the party's agenda for the 2026 state elections.

The meeting was inaugurated by CPI(M) Politburo coordinator Prakash Karat. Kerala chief minister and Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan will present a policy document on the development of a ‘New Kerala’ for discussion during the four-day conference.

The main agenda of the four-day CPI(M) state conference in Kollam is to review the party’s organisational status over the past three years. This conference is particularly significant as it comes ahead of the upcoming three-tier elections to local bodies and the state assembly within the next year.

The CPI(M) has already prepared for a debate on a third Pinarayi regime in Kerala, while the Congress is struggling in the state. This requires some bending of the age limit norms the party has traditionally adhered to.

CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan stated that the conference will involve discussions and decisions aimed at securing a third consecutive CPI(M) term. The 24th CPI(M) state conference will set the political agenda for both the party and the combined Left Front in preparation for the crucial elections ahead.

The conference comes just months before local body elections, which are expected to influence the course of the 2026 assembly election as well.

In the 2022 state conference, the CPI(M) debated on transforming Kerala into a hub for higher education through private investment. Three years later, this debate has led to the state government permitting the establishment of private universities in Kerala. Earlier this week, the Kerala State Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Draft Bill (2025) was referred to the subject committee of the assembly.

It is no surprise that the party is prioritising its development agenda again, which the leadership believes will significantly impact electoral outcomes. However, this agenda gains greater significance in light of concerns about a lack of political engagement within the party.

One issue under scrutiny is why the Kerala unit has quickly shifted the CPI(M)’s core beliefs, at times moving away from principles the party has traditionally upheld.

Additionally, questions have been raised as to why the national leadership has refrained from labelling the BJP as fascist or even neo-fascist. These developments have led to ideological confusion within the Kerala CPI(M), especially with two significant elections approaching: the local body elections later this year and the assembly elections in mid-2026.

On 3 March, just three days before the State Conference was set to begin, the LDF government introduced the Kerala State Private Universities Bill, 2025, paving the way for private investment in the higher education sector in Kerala.

Less than a decade ago, the CPI(M) strongly opposed private investment in higher education. At that time, even student leaders viewed it as an affront, resulting in an incident where T.P. Sreenivasan, the former chairman of the State Higher Education Council, was slapped for supporting private universities.

However, Pinarayi himself made a shift in 2022, when his 'Nava Kerala Vision' document highlighted the need for “globally competitive higher education and research institutions in the private sector.”

A year later, during the 2024–25 Kerala Budget speech, he formally announced the establishment of private universities.

The Draft Political Resolution, adopted at the Central Committee Meeting in Kolkata in January, criticises the BJP’s approach to the ‘ease of doing business’, claiming that it undermines environmental regulations and weakens regulatory bodies. Ironically, these policies may have unintentionally affected Pinarayi's administration as well.

In January, the Pinarayi government approved a Rs 600 crore brewery and distillery project in water-scarce Palakkad. The project, led by Indore-based Oasis Commercial Private Limited, has faced criticism for alleged corruption, procedural violations, and environmental concerns.

In February, Pinarayi indicated that the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) would need to introduce a ‘user fee’ for its survival, despite the CPM’s long-standing opposition to neoliberal charges like ‘user fees’ and ‘tolls’.

Pinarayi is expected to address these concerns by emphasising the social safeguards attached to such policies, such as reservations for private universities, restrictions on groundwater use for breweries, and affordable KIIFB user fees, with exemptions for locals, two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws.

On the eve of the State Conference, Pinarayi remarked that the Congress strategy of scattering secular votes had contributed to the BJP's victories in states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, despite opposition from farmers. He argued that Congress undermined the popular mandate by overestimating its own strength and preventing the unification of secular votes, which ultimately benefited the BJP.

It is crucial for the CPI(M) to maintain its position as the secular alternative to the BJP, a stance that has been somewhat undermined by the central leadership’s reluctance to label the BJP as fascist or neo-fascist. Consequently, one of the key political goals of the CPI(M) state conference will be to challenge Congress’s secular credentials.

Politburo members Brinda Karat, Subhashini Ali, B.V. Raghavulu, Ashok Dhawale, M.A. Baby and A. Vijayaraghavan are attending the delegates' conference throughout its duration. A total of 530 participants, including 486 delegates from various districts and 44 guests from outside the state, are taking part in the event.