“Get out (Kadakku Purathu),” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan snapped at reporters as they tried to gatecrash a meeting between the CPI(M) and the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram in 2017.
Vijayan was then barely one year into his first term. His abrasive remark drew flak from political and media circles, but the Marxist veteran held his ground. “You should go only to places where you are invited, don’t rush in uninvited,” he said. His aides and social media “warriors” justified his remark, saying he did nothing wrong when faced with “uninvited media guests”.
Cut to March 2026, with Vijayan spearheading the incumbent CPI(M)-led LDF’s campaign for the April 9 Assembly polls, aiming to clinch a third consecutive term.
In the countdown to the Kerala elections, the 80-year-old two-term CM has given at least 20 interviews – to TV channels, newspapers, YouTubers and podcasters, among others, including those perceived as the Left’s critics – over the last three days. In these freewheeling interviews, he has taken tough, pointed questions, replying to them calmly while mixing it with humour and sharp rhetoric.
An interviewer from Manorama News channel, while hinting at the charge that a personality cult has been built around him, asked Vijayan, “You belong to a political tradition where the party is considered supreme vis-a-vis an individual leader. Could you always remain subjected to the party?” The CM responded: “No one is above the party. I, and others, have always remained subjected (vidheyan) to the party’s norms. However, under special circumstances, given the political climate in the state, some allowances are made for individuals.” The interviewer pressed on, “Was there any time when the party corrected Pinarayi Vijayan? We don’t know about it”. The CM laughed, saying “There is no need for you or others to know if or when I was corrected by the party. It is the party’s internal discussions, which are confidential.”
The interviews have covered a gamut of issues, including various scandals and controversies such as the Sabarimala temple gold theft case and entry of women in Sabarimala. “The believers are with LDF. They have not fallen for false propaganda from some political quarters,” Vijayan said on the implications of the Sabarimala rows for the LDF’s electoral prospects.
To another question as to why his government recently did a U-turn on the question of women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple, he said, “I have not changed my stand. The party’s stand has been that widespread consultations are required before touching upon customs and practices of people. We cannot take a unilateral stand.”
When asked whether there was an alleged “tacit understanding” between the LDF dispensation and the BJP-led Centre, Vijayan said, “If there was such an understanding, in 2018 (during Kerala floods), why did the central government not support the state?… During the Wayanad landslides (2024), did the Centre support the state?” When the interviewer pressed on, he went after the Opposition Congress-led UDF, saying that “The UDF is scared to oppose the BJP. They have the same ideology on several levels.We (LDF) are different.” On Rahul Gandhi’s allegation about an “unholy alliance” between the CPI(M) and the BJP, he shot back: “Rahul Gandhi’s Congress is BJP’s B-team.”
An interviewer from Asianet News channel asked him why in his view the LDF would be voted back to power even after suffering defeat in recent local body elections. In his response, the CM ruled out anti-incumbency, saying “These two elections (local body and Assembly polls) are two different ball games. In the Assembly elections, what could be a better alternative than LDF?”
These interviews are being seen in political circles as part of the CPI(M) camp’s move for Vijayan’s image makeover on the poll eve in order to project him as a “candid, accessible and transparent” stalwart, who has been known as a seasoned, tough politician.
He recently drew flak for his interview with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, which the Opposition called a “PR stunt”. Brushing it aside, Vijayan
told an interviewer: “We are not engaged in any widespread PR. But we cannot ignore new media where campaigns are held against us.” He also said, “Did some quarters have a problem with a non-political interview with Mohanlal who is a revered actor in Kerala”.
While he reiterated in several interviews that the LDF will never allow Kerala to turn into a “communal state” and will always prioritise development, he was also asked about SNDP leader Vellappalli Natesan’s alleged “Islamophobia”, who is considered to be an LDF supporter. “You never criticised Natesan on his communal stand,” an interviewer asked him, hinting that Vijayan, like Natesan, also belongs to the Ezhava community. The CM said, “Vellappalli himself has said that he never issued statements against Muslims. His statements were against the Muslim League. Criticism of Muslim League cannot be considered Islamophobia”.
His interviews have heated up the electoral scene. For instance, he took a jibe at former CPI(M) leader G Sudhakaran, who has quit the party to contest as an Independent in this election with the Congress’s support. “I don’t have another word in my dictionary to refer to his treachery,” the CM said in remarks that sparked a row.
During the interviews, Vijayan maintained that his agenda is centred on the development of a new Kerala. “Nava Kerala Nirmanam (development of a new Kerala)” will be his goal during his third term if it becomes a reality, he said. Investment opportunities have been growing in the state, he claimed in several interviews, adding that Kerala was “the only state in the country, which provides a non-communal atmosphere for industries to thrive”.
The flurry of his interviews seems to be having an impact on the LDF meetings too. At an LDF election convention in Konni Tuesday, a Left activist stood up to ask a question of Vijayan in the middle of his speech. “I have a question,” the activist said. The CM quipped, “Ask it at your home,” leading to some observers to say that his sharp tongue has not been blunted.