Encounters with Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan and mike operators seem to have taught Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan a valuable lesson: Impulsive outbursts could blow up into PR disasters.
So on April 16, when he met reporters in Thrissur, the Chief Minister looked relaxed. At the start, when the mike developed a sudden snag and gave out a piercing howl, it was not anger but an amused smile that lit up his stern face. "Now you people have something to write about," he said, slipping into an uncharacteristically extended laugh.
This was a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the first time ever, accused his daughter of taking bribes. In earlier speeches, the PM had merely used the term "family". On April 15, while speaking at Kattakkada, Modi said that the accused in the CMRL bribery scandal had admitted that bribes were paid to the Chief Minister and even his daughter.
Before this, whenever Modi made disparaging remarks, it was usual for Pinarayi to behave as if he had not heard them. He also made sure that reporters never got a chance to pose uncomfortable questions.
This time, he appeared before the media soon after Modi's damning remark against his daughter. It was risky because questions about his daughter would inevitably be thrown at him. But not to take on Modi's high-pitched censure of his party and governance, fearing public humiliation for his daughter, would have been politically disastrous.
This was election time and Pinarayi just could not let Modi have his way. "Modi's ploy was to embarrass the CM and silence him on the eve of the elections. But the CM was up to the challenge. Pinarayi knew he would be mercilessly shot at but he had to take the bullets for the party," a CPM Central Committee member said on the condition of anonymity.
Pinarayi's trick was to minimise the injury to himself while using official facts and figures to expose Modi's rhetoric as mere bombast. To lessen the pain for his family, Pinarayi just had to be boring. When the inescapable question about Veena came, Pinarayi simply regurgitated his party's stock reply in an even unruffled voice.
"It is a fee received as part of a service rendered by one company to another company. It is no secret, it is done through a bank account. It is also reflected in the income tax filings of the company. The only thing to note is that a new precedent has been set in our country where even such a transparent deal could be used for political ends. There is nothing more to say on this," he said.
The advantage of a regurgitated reply is that it is devoid of news value, and therefore would remain largely unreported. And the bonus: No one can now accuse the CM of running away from the question. Pinarayi only had to keep in check his instinct to flare up the moment his daughter's name is mentioned, which he did.
Once Veena was out of the way, Pinarayi was free to rebut Modi's charges point by point.
Modi: The Chief Minister is lying that he has given back the money of (Karuvannur) depositors. I am already in talks to see whether the Rs 90 crore confiscated from the bank could be distributed to the depositors.
Pinarayi: Karuvannur depositors have been paid back around Rs 117 crore. The bank is even equipped to return more money if depositors ask for it. The bank has not collapsed as the BJP makes it out to be. It is doing healthy business.
Modi: The CPM's Thrissur district secretary has assets worth Rs 100 crore.
Pinarayi: The party has land and offices spread all over the district, from branch offices to the District Committee office. This is the district secretary's assets the PM spoke about. Such slander cannot destroy a party like the CPM.
Modi: The CPM is neck-deep in corruption.
Pinarayi: So many corruption charges involving the Centre and state governments led by the BJP, have come to the fore in the last 10 years. The latest in the list is the electoral bond scandal. This is a scam with many dimensions, and such a scale of corruption is part of a peculiar political culture.
Modi: Three crore houses for the poor is Modi's guarantee
Pinarayi: In its 2019 manifesto, the BJP had promised houses for every Indian by 2022. What had happened to this promise? The 2024 manifesto is silent on this promise. Here, it will be instructive to look at Kerala's performance. We are nearing the goal of 'zero homeless'. 4.56 lakh houses have already been completed. Work is progressing on another 1.52 lakh houses.
Modi: The LDF government has nothing to speak of in terms of achievements and so is taking credit for the schemes initiated by the Centre?
Pinarayi: Let us assess the Centre's role in housing. Under PMAY (Rural) the centre contributes Rs 72,000 for 33,517 houses. Under PMAY (Urban), the Centre contributes Rs 1.5 lakh each for 83,261 houses. Kerala's Life Mission has by now spent Rs 17,490 crore for nearly 5 lakh homes. Of this, the Centre's share is just Rs 2081 crore, just 11.9% of the total.
