CPI(M)’s Keralam reset: Course correction begins after poll rout; new faces inducted

The Kozhikode exercise combines leadership changes with an admission of organisational weaknesses and the need for course correction

When the CPI(M)’s extended state committee began in Kozhikode on Sunday (September 13), few expected it to end with a significant organisational overhaul. There had been speculation about a political resolution, an admission of failure by the leadership, or some structural changes involving responsibilities and directives for the road ahead.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s intervention in the CMRL-Exalogic case, with fresh allegations involving former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family, had also raised questions about whether the party’s introspection would be overshadowed by the need to defend its tallest leader in Kerala.

The three-day exercise, however, went beyond a review of the electoral defeat. It resulted in changes to the state secretariat and the state committee, while also bringing some of the sharpest criticism of the leadership into the open.