It is early days for the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala but even going by its initial pronouncements, one cannot easily escape the similarities the Kerala CM has with prime minister Narendra Modi’s style of functioning.
The LDF government seems set to work to a development agenda, along with steps to set right the many wrongs of the earlier UDF government that had led to the latter's mauling in the elections. To that end, Vijayan has met central leaders and has expressed willingness to tap private investment for the development of the rail network in the state. The chief minister, known as a no-nonsense administrator, has stayed away from making big headlines -- a huge departure from the days when VS Achuthanandan was chief minister the last time a LDF government was in power in the state. The playing to the gallery, the headline-making statements, the chest-thumping, the toadies who tried to wear their loyalty to the CM and his agenda (if there ever was one) on their sleeves are notably absent now.
Understandably, many of the old guard, especially those who feasted on the crumbs of power, are disappointed this time -- even upset. This CM has his team on a tight leash, and except for EP Jayarajan's foot-in-the-mouth comment on boxing champion Mohammed Ali, there has not been much to make headlines, despite editors trying their best. Nothing. Nothing good, nothing bad. For the media there is no anti-climax like this one. For the toadies, hoping to crawl into seats of power showcasing their loyalty measured by decibel levels, it is probably the worst season ever.
Isn't this what Modi has done too, at least broadly? The prime minister has drawn up a development roadmap, followed it up with clear campaigns, and refused to be drawn into the fight with a hostile section of the media even as he continues to work tirelessly – setting a pace that his own ministers and bureaucrats find hard to follow. Many in the media may disagree but the favourable marks chalked up by Modi and his team are steadily rising -- in ease of doing business, in policy, in responsive and responsible government, in graft-free administration. Yes, there is a long way to go, and the khakhi knickeratti have tried to derail the agenda so often but things are broadly progressing.
Vijayan took a leaf out of Modi's playbook before the polls by hiring an image-management team, reports say. And that seems to be the case with his style of functioning too -- staying out of unnecessary controversies, but building a rapport with the central government without letting ideological differences come in the way, and wooing private investment for the state's development (something unimaginable with Achuthanandan).
It has been a smooth start, and Vijayan's iron grip over the party will mean Achuthanandan loyalists will not be able to scupper the plan, which they are surely expected to try – in sheer desperation.
One strange thing to note here is that both in Modi's case and Vijayan's, it is the Congress model that has been discredited and thrown upside down. The Congress brass, reeling from the defeat by Modi, tried to hold up the "achievements" of Oommen Chandy but the Kerala electorate has now thrown that away too. Essentially, it seems the people are tired of Manmohan Singh's and Chandy's development models, which were nothing but barely concealed loot schemes; Modi and Vijayan are showing there can be development without loot, without making headlines, without playing to the gallery.
Economists and media commentators steeped in conservative socialist doctrines may not like what these two leaders are doing. But Modi and Vijayan are displaying a boldness that was absent in the regimes they threw out, and are bringing to bear a clear vision and an execution strategy for the people who elected them.
They may not be the best but they could be what the people need, after years of stagnation under Congress rule. And both rulers, representing polar opposite ideologies, may succeed because of their pragmatism.
The losers will be VS Achuthanandan and his doctrinaire followers, the RSS and the Hindutva fringe, and of course, the Congress.
(The views expressed in the article are personal)
