But is it time for the leadership to lower their guard and relax? If the Patriarch’s subsequent statements are anything to go by, the answer to that question has to be in the negative.

True. VS deftly sidestepped all loaded questions hurled at him by the presspersons. But the tenor and import of the crisp and short statement he read out cannot but cause unease to the leadership.

The most important part of the statement was VS’s declaration that he would continue as a sentinel of the people of Kerala by taking up their issues. It must be noted that VS scrupulously avoided saying that he would abide by the party’s wishes in this regard. In a way, Achuthanandan has reserved his right to be critical of the Pinarayi Vijayan Government if and when it adopts what he perceives to be an anti-people stance.

For instance, VS has beamed a characteristically blunt message to the new Government. First and foremost, he wants the new government to hold ‘transparent and honest probes’ into solar and bar scams, Pattur land scam and murder of a Dalit girl at Perumbavoor. The guilty must be punished, insisted the veteran. What he has left unsaid is that the days of ‘adjustment politics’ – an allegation levelled against the CPI(M )’s state leadership in the past – are over. He would not put up with any such secret deals.

Again, VS also told Vijayan when the latter made a surprise visit to his residence that the new government should accord top priority to curbing price rise and ensuring the safety of women in the state.

VS has also made it clear that he was not interested in any posts the party might offer him. The import of the refusal is clear: do not think that my silence could be bought with the allurement of office. And that bodes ill for the future. A clear warning to both the party leadership and the new government.

VS has also said that he was hale and hearty. There were no health or age-related problems. It was an answer to CPI(M) general secretary Skitaram Yechury who had attributed the denial of CM’s post to VS to his advanced age and health problems. That was his way of saying that you did not express any solicitude for my health when you wanted me to undertake a strenuous and statewide campaign for the party candidates!

In fairness, it must be said that the CPI(M) leadership was, to say the least, unfair to VS. The widely prevalent public perception is that the decision not to make him the Chief Minister went against the spirit of the massive mandate the LDF secured. Thousands of people voted for the LDF Government thinking that VS would be made the CM.

Meanwhile, the Pinarayi government would be sworn in on May 25. The new ministry will have, according to first reports 19 ministers. The CPI(M) will have 12 ministers and the CPI four. The Speaker will be from the CPI(M) and the Deputy Speaker from the CPI. The three allies – Congress(S), Janata Dal(S) and the NCP – will have a minister each. (IPA Service)