Analysis | ED move CPM’s gain, Congress’s pain?

Ahead of the extended state committee meeting in Kozhikode, the CPM comrades face a strange irony. The Central Committee’s Assembly Election review report made two striking observations among a host of reasons for the loss: personalising the election campaign around Pinarayi Vijayan and avoidable responses from leading comrades during the polls. If the party spent the past four months mulling ways to shake off the Pinarayi effect, now it will have to shield the very same person -- thanks to the Enforcement Directorate.

The Central Committee's diagnosis was spot on. In the run-up to the extended committee meet, the party amassed over 20,000 opinions from lower-rung cadres and learnt that it cannot work around a single person.

Even the senior leaders seemed to agree. P Jayarajan, in a party-sponsored podcast, broached internal scrutiny and protests as part of a cleansing process. In an exhaustive article published in the CPM mouthpiece as a preface to the meet, party state secretary M V Govindan also acknowledged the organisational, administrative and political flaws behind the party’s loss in elections. It almost seemed like there would at least be murmurs, if not outbursts, against the current style of functioning at the Kozhikode meet.

Now, the Enforcement Directorate’s demand for an FIR against Pinarayi Vijayan will only compel the cadres to regroup under the same leadership they felt was not good enough and to build the line of defence again for one person. Even a whisper against Pinarayi Vijayan has suddenly become improbable even for those who harboured faint illusions of an open debate. The CPM wouldn’t want to give a sniff into the rumblings within the party, at least for the time being.

The signs are already clear. Leaders like Govindan and M A Baby have belittled the central investigating agency, terming it an extended wing of the BJP for its political machinations. They don’t bother lending an iota of credence to what the ED says. The selective leak of a single page showing Pinarayi among the list of bribe collectors also helps the CPM’s defence. It has relied on previous court rulings to undermine new findings. The ED, on the other hand, has not stated what Pinarayi did in return for the ₹3.28 crore bribe he allegedly collected through his daughter Veena Vijayan.

Further, the CPM depicts the ED’s move as yet another instance of the Congress in Kerala being saffronised. The CPM would gleefully carry forward its relentless attacks on Chief Minister V D Satheesan, and the ED will be an addition to a rash of issues—like the Vande Mataram row, PM SHRI scheme, appointment of VCs, and the stand on non-Muslim members in the Waqf board—it had used to rattle Satheesan.

For the CPM, the ED’s move would only help buttress allegations of a deal between the Congress and the BJP. In the Kerala Assembly elections 2026, the Congress campaign around the CPM-BJP deal in various constituencies had cost the CPM dearly. The CPM finds it an ideal time to return the favour.

The CPM is also well aware of the dilemma Congress faces. Already, Satheesan deals with accusations of double standards regarding PM SHRI. When the party opposes the National Education Policy, Satheesan is guilty of going ahead with the PM SHRI, which the NEP envisages. It will have to think hard before setting the stage for the ED to go after CPM leaders when the party has strongly campaigned against ‘politicised’ ED raids at the national level.

Satheesan has sounded keen to act, saying there are graver allegations that need to be probed. KPCC leaders, however, dial down the enthusiasm, saying that legal aspects must be carefully examined. With the ED recommending corruption cases against MLA Mohammad Riyas and Pinarayi Vijayan, the Assembly Speaker’s consent under the Prevention of Corruption Act would be required for a preliminary inquiry, according to former Director General of Prosecution T A Shaji. Legal experts also said that a quick verification by the vigilance is a must before registering an FIR.

A hasty move and an ensuing legal setback wouldn’t look pretty for the Congress against the CPM, which will be eager to take up issues like the power crisis, an MLA-involved scuffle and the like. In November 2025, the Kerala High Court had expunged remarks by the vigilance court against Pinarayi Vijayan in a corruption case against ADGP M R Ajith Kumar.

Political observers like Gopakumar, however, say that Congress will have to act based on the unique political situation in Kerala. “Whether the party rallies behind Pinarayi or not, the present developments will erode his credibility among the public. This was what we saw in elections. As for the Congress, national-level policies will have to be reshaped considering the need of the hour. They had built their campaign mainly against Pinarayi before elections, and now they can’t have second thoughts,” he said.

CPM’s extended state meet will be held from September 13 to 15.