Karl Marx
By Shankar Raj*
Thiruvananthapuram: While Marxists do not believe in gods or devils, the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has elevated Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the status of God Almighty.
AK Balan, a senior party leader and a staunch Pinarayi loyalist, took to the Bible to praise his ‘Lord’. Even God Almighty took a day’s rest after creating the universe; then why not Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan? asked Balan, who is also the CPM’s central committee member.
Balan, who quoted from the Bible, said God took rest on the seventh day, after creating the universe. So why can’t Pinarayi take a two-week vacation abroad after creating a winnable atmosphere for the party in the Lok Sabha polls, Balan wondered.
“What’s wrong in letting a person under undue strain, take some rest? Even God, who created the universe, took a day’s rest after toiling for six days. That’s what we call Sundays. You won’t let the Chief Minister do even that,” Balan told the media after the party secretariat meeting.
Balan had more to add. The Chief Minister (unlike God) hasn’t gone to outer space. “It’s a place within a call’s distance. Campbell Bay in the Andaman Nicobar is the southernmost tip of India. It’s called the Indira point. He has gone to Indonesia, which is just 60 km from this point. Pinarayi Vijayan is within calling distance. Are you aware?” asked Balan, who took a class in geography for a bevy of Television camera crew members.
Also read: Vijayan vanishes! Who are the sponsors?
He then warned the media saying the scribes would soon start feeling guilty for raising a charge against the Chief Minister. “This guilt would haunt you even after death”.
Let alone god, many in the Communist Party of India -Marxist believe that Pinarayi is the second most powerful Marxist leader in the world after China’s President Xi Jinping.
A few weeks ago, CPM state secretary M V Govindan compared Pinarayi to a ‘sun’. Those trying to reach him (a reference to the central investigating agencies) would get burnt.
Earlier, the social media was flooded with songs describing him as a hero roaring like a lion and an eagle flying in a storm. He was also lavished with many epithets like Covid saviour, flood saviour, a kit king (distributing kits to the poor) etc.
Women from the party had a few months back staged a ‘world record’ Mega Thiruvathira (a local dance form) with a song in praise of Pinarayi Vijayan.
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
