No big celebrations as CM Vijayan completes uninterrupted 8 years in office

Thiruvananthapuram: As Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan completes his eighth year in office, becoming the longest-serving CM in the state on the trot, the celebratory mood this time seems to be subdued.

Unlike previous years when big anniversary events were held, this time, sources have said that a closed-door cake-cutting programme was done at his office on Monday which was attended by his close aides and the state chief secretary.

The subdued celebrations could be for varied reasons, including the case against his daughter Veena Vijayan, the difficult economic situation the state is in currently and the June 4 Lok Sabha election outcome.

CM Vijayan is known for not crumbling under tough situations as witnessed in the past like how he came unscathed in 2019 when his secretary and top IAS official M. Sivasankar was sent to jail in the gold smuggling case.

He withstood the massive media onslaught and also from the opposition parties in the Swapna Suresh case, who was once alleged to be CM Vijayan’s family insider.

But ever since the Registrar of Companies, Serious Fraud Investigation Office and lastly the Enforcement Directorate started to scrutinize Veena Vijayan’s now closed-down IT firm -- Exalogic based out of Bengaluru, CM Vijayan appears to have gone silent.

For Veena, there has been no relief from either of the High Courts in Kerala and Karnataka.

Despite these setbacks, the biggest advantage that CM Vijayan has compared to his Congress predecessors is that his party -- CPI(M) and the Left Democratic Front -- have been quiet.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan, said, “Vijayan’s governance has been an abject failure on all counts. The stage today is people have realized that they have nothing to look up from the state government. Every sector in the state is reeling as the state government is unable to do anything.”

CM Vijayan, according to sources, is waiting for the June 4 results for the 20 Lok Sabha seats.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, despite making a lot of noise about doing well, it lost 19 seats and managed to win only one seat.

“We are going to win all 20 seats and that will be the treatment which Vijayan will get from the people for all his misgovernance,” said state Congress president K. Sudhakaran, who has fought a bitter poll battle to retain his Kannur seat.

CM Vijayan also has a lot to worry about the state's finances.

He is trying to get additional funds from the Centre to tide over the urgent requirements, especially with Rs 8,500 crore needed to pay off around 13,000 state government employees retiring on May 31.