Comrade to captain to God? CPM denies involvement in controversial Pinarayi flex at Malappuram

pinarayi flex
The Pinarayi Vijayan flex that read, “You asked who was God, the public replied, it is one who feeds” has been removed.

Malappuram: Hundreds of flex boards are hoisted throughout Kerala, for innumerable reasons. On Saturday, the picture of a peculiar one was circulated widely on social media.

The larger-than-life hoarding tied vertically up a lamp post at Pacheeri near Walancherry in the Malappuram district had the unmistakable image of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

It was the wordings and the positioning of the hoarding that raised eyebrows.

Placed above a signboard of 'Pacheeri Vishnu Temple', the unattributed inscription read: "Aaranu daivamennu ningal chodichu, annam tharunnavanennu janam paranju" (You asked who was God, the public replied, it is one who feeds).

The flex has since been removed and reacting to the incident, locals told Manorama News that they suspect it to be the handiwork of the CPM.

However, the CPM district committee has denied any involvement. “The party has no role in the matter,” said EN Mohandas, CPM secretary, Malappuram district committee. “It wasn't placed or removed by the party. As for the content, the party is bound to answer only if we had any involvement in it. In this case, we had nothing to do with it,” Mohandas told Onmanorama.

It is not the first time that the wordings on a flex portraying Pinarayi Vijayan has courted controversy. During the State assembly election, a hoarding referring to the chief minister as 'captain' was not received well by a section of the CPM leaders.

After politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who said that in CPM "everyone is a comrade", P Jayarajan took to Facebook explaining the party's stand on a personality cult. "Party is the captain," Jayarajan had written in his Facebook post.

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