Following the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) crushing defeat in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, fellow Left traveler and former MP Sebastian Paul launched a scathing attack on outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday.
Speaking to the media in Kochi, Sebastian Paul said the LDF’s debacle in the just-concluded assembly polls is a direct verdict against Pinarayi Vijayan’s autocratic style of functioning and perceived arrogance.
He stated that the electoral loss was not a rejection of the LDF’s governance, but a personal verdict against Vijayan’s individual style and arrogance. “It was not a vote against the LDF, but a vote against Pinarayi Vijayan in Kerala. There will be someone responsible for every defeat. Pinarayi Vijayan himself must take responsibility for this defeat,” he added.
He expressed concern that the party structure was completely overshadowed by Vijayan’s centralization of power and accused Pinarayi Vijayan of being a dictator in the party whose language, tone, and overall conduct did not reflect the decency expected of a good administrator. The Chief Minister’s authoritarian regime stifled internal questioning and sidelined other capable leaders, he alleged.
Paul further said that the power structure within the CPM became completely centralised, making the authority of the state secretary nearly invisible. “A communist chief minister should always be someone who works in obedience to the party. But after Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, that method changed. Now, it seems doubtful whether there is even a party secretary. Without any control from the party, a person named Pinarayi Vijayan was given the opportunity to work according to his own will,” he added.
Paul explicitly questioned Vijayan’s fitness to serve as the leader of the Opposition.
“I think that someone who has been wielding the unquestioned power as the Chief Minister for the last ten years would not be willing to sit as the leader of a minority in the opposition,” he said.
People want a CPM that listens to questions and is reformed. If the party reaches that point, Bengal will not repeat itself in Kerala, Paul said.