Features

Kerala: Left Falls, Not Out

Published

2 months ago

2026/05/17

Venu-and-Sathee

Late Thursday morning, 10 days after the count, Kerala finally heard the referee’s whistle. Top enablers at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi have finalized the selection of the Chief Minister for Kerala, who will govern for the next five years. AICC General Secretary and the party’s in-charge for Kerala and Lakshadweep, Deepa Dasmunsi, announced that the Congress has chosen V. D. Satheesan, shocking many supporters of K. C. Venugopal. But both have accepted the decision and committed to working together, at least publicly. The episode reflects Kerala’s familiar pattern, where internal competition is settled through central authority and public unity follows factional disputes.

Beneath this stability, the political system is no longer shaped by doctrine but by administration, coalition arithmetic, and tightening fiscal constraints. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has returned to power after 10 years in opposition, ending the Communist-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. The UDF secured 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly, while the LDF was reduced to 35 seats, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three, marking a clear reversal of the previous mandate. The communists have fallen, but they are not out. This outcome makes it necessary to revisit Kerala’s Left story.

The E. M. S. Namboodiripad-era communist movement and the later institutionalization of the CPI(M) created one of the most unusual political formations in modern history. Unlike communist revolutions elsewhere, Kerala’s Left did not emerge through armed rupture or prolonged insurgency. It sought to achieve success by capturing the state through elections, without using violence. It adopted electoral democracy as its primary battlefield early on, treating the state not as an institution to be overthrown but as an apparatus to be captured and redirected. That decision defined everything that followed. It made Kerala’s communism stable, durable, and electorally competitive, but also gradually transformed it from a revolutionary movement into a governance machine.

In contrast, several communist and communist-inspired regimes elsewhere were associated with large-scale violence and state breakdown: the Soviet Union under Stalin, Mao’s China, Cambodia under Pol Pot, North Korea under the Kim regime, and Ethiopia under the Derg all saw severe repression and mass deaths. Eastern Europe also experienced violent Soviet interventions in countries such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia to maintain control. Similar patterns of communist-linked insurgency and conflict also emerged in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other contexts, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and disappearances.

Kerala followed a different path. But constitutional integration comes with consequences. Once a movement stops functioning as an opposition force and becomes part of governance, it begins to absorb the logic of administration. The CPI(M) in Kerala became a tightly organized electoral machine, but over time that discipline turned into rigidity. Governance replaced transformation, welfare delivery replaced structural change, and political conviction itself shifted from practice to narrative.

This shift is also visible in contemporary electoral politics. The contest that led to V. D. Satheesan’s emergence as Chief Minister over internal rival K. C. Venugopal reflects a deeper structural evolution within the Congress rather than a simple leadership change. Venugopal represents the logic of internal party machinery, central coordination, and organizational control, while Satheesan represents constituency-based legitimacy and visible electoral leadership. The resolution of that contest in favour of Satheesan signals a broader shift in Kerala politics: legitimacy is increasingly derived from electoral visibility rather than internal hierarchy.

Yet this shift takes place within a structurally strained system. At an India-focused academic conference held at Stanford University last week, Shashi Tharoor made a blunt observation: if Kerala were treated as a sovereign fiscal entity, it would already be considered effectively bankrupt.

Despite its high human development indicators and global reputation for social welfare, Kerala’s fiscal model is heavily dependent on borrowing, remittances, and central transfers. Salary obligations for government employees, pension liabilities, and welfare commitments increasingly operate under tight fiscal constraints. Political promises continue to expand while revenue growth remains structurally limited. The result is not collapse, but chronic imbalance.

This fiscal tension matters because Kerala’s politics is heavily driven by welfare expectations. Every electoral cycle expands commitments without fully resolving the question of long-term sustainability. Political parties, regardless of orientation, operate within this constraint. The CPI(M) expands welfare schemes under Left governance, while the Congress-led UDF offers competing promises of welfare expansion and subsidy re-calibration. Political identity becomes secondary to distributive capacity.

Within this context, the intellectual foundations of Kerala society deserve closer attention. The reformist legacy of Sree Narayana Guru remains one of the most significant but often under-analyzed influences on Kerala’s political evolution. His central message of social equality, education, and rejection of caste hierarchy did not produce a political party, but it fundamentally reshaped social consciousness. The slogan “one caste, one religion, one God for humanity” became less a doctrinal statement and more a cultural foundation for modern Kerala’s egalitarian self-image.

Narayana Guru’s influence matters because it created a social environment in which political extremism found limited structural space. Caste reform movements, educational expansion, and social mobility altered traditional hierarchies that often fuel radical political ruptures elsewhere. Kerala’s communism therefore did not arise in a vacuum of deprivation; it emerged within a society already undergoing deep social reform. That context partly explains why communism in Kerala did not evolve into violent insurgency as it did in other parts of the world. The space for armed revolution was constrained by pre-existing social reform trajectories.

Over time, however, even that moral and social foundation has been absorbed into routine political language. All major parties now invoke equality, welfare, and inclusion, but these terms function as electoral jargon rather than transformative principles. The Congress operates through alliance management and electoral calibration rather than coherent political positioning. The CPI(M) governs through administrative efficiency and welfare continuity rather than mass mobilization.

The BJP remains structurally peripheral in Kerala but is slowly becoming a more visible third force. Despite repeated and intensive efforts by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expand the party’s footprint in the state, it has largely failed to convert that push into durable electoral gains. In Kerala, it continues to hit a ceiling of expectations without delivery, unlike in several other states where it has steadily expanded its base.

What emerges is a political system that is stable but intellectually exhausted. The red flag in Kerala has not disappeared, but it has been normalized. It no longer signals rupture; it signals continuity. The revolutionary vocabulary that once defined the CPI(M) has been absorbed into the grammar of governance. Even electoral victories are framed in managerial terms rather than political triumph.

The recent electoral outcome and leadership transition reflect this transformation clearly. Satheesan’s rise to Cliff House, the official residence of the Kerala Chief Minister, is not the emergence of a new political direction but the consolidation of a performance-based governing model. Leadership is now judged by electoral execution, alliance management, and narrative control rather than doctrinal articulation. Venugopal’s organizational strength, Chennithala’s seniority, and Satheesan’s electoral visibility represent three competing logics within the same exhausted system. Meanwhile, the current CPI(M) leadership in Kerala is still shaped by the post-2000 consolidation phase, where administrative governance has increasingly replaced mass mobilization. The fact that visibility prevailed does not signal renewal; it signals adaptation to voter psychology.

However, India’s next general elections are expected to be held by April 2029 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha. In just three years, the country will face its most consequential electoral test in over a decade, and it will not only determine the future of national governance but also redefine the limits of political authority, economic sustainability, and political credibility across its states, including Kerala, where politics has already moved beyond doctrine into the harder terrain of arithmetic reality.

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa

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Features

The hard challenge of clinching a political settlement in the Middle East

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Bruised hearts: Displaced Palestinian civilians in the Gaza.(Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Despite some sections of the Trump administration persisting with the view that the possibility could not be entirely ruled out of there being a diplomatic solution to the current US-Iran hostilities in West Asia, the skeptic could not be blamed for thinking otherwise. The intensity, scale and frequency of the tit-for-tat strikes by the antagonists over the past few days against selected military targets and civilian infrastructure in particular in West Asia make the adoption of this stance excusable.

The continuing hostilities render the mentioning of the MOU signed between the warring parties in mid-June a laughable matter. While it could very well be that the foes are wishing privately for a cessation of hostilities before long, what seems to be uppermost on their minds right now is to negotiate with each other from a position of strength. This strategy compels them to incapacitate each other militarily to the extent possible, lest they have to concede too much to each other during negotiations. Hence the stepped-up hostilities.

However, even on the question of there being a negotiated political settlement in the West Asian theatre in the longer term, the skeptic could come to be seen as scoring over the optimist. Developments on the ground account for this.

At the time of writing Israel’s Netanyahu government is going ahead in fairly care-free fashion with the establishment of more Jewish settlements in the Gaza and the West Bank, and it’s all happening under the apparently complacent gaze of the US. In fact, some quarters estimate that Israel is in control of some 65% of the Gaza Strip. Ethnic cleansing, that is, is being drastically stepped-up.

Accordingly, in terms of the power relations of West Asia, the world is almost back to the status quo of the late forties of the last century when the state of Israel was established and the Palestinians were reduced to a microscopic minority in the land they came to inhabit. Therefore, even the impartial observer would be compelled to ask: ‘Will a negotiated peace be ever possible in the Middle East?’

The humanist in the observer would prefer to answer this question in the affirmative and it is indeed the ideal stance to adopt considering the staggering human and material costs of the conflict. But the way ahead to peace could be expected to be highly hazardous and arduous. Among other odds, it would also prove an uphill endeavour to win minds and hearts.

The US’ Trump administration would need to be counted out in this pursuit. This is on account of the fact that it has been far too wayward in its management of West Asian affairs in particular over the past couple of years. Given its unpredictable character it is a matter for conjecture whether it could be counted on to live up to its commitments.

Moreover, Israel could be expected to ‘go it alone’ in the Middle East regardless of whether US help is coming or otherwise. It has indicated as much in recent times and Israel could be doubted on this score only at the doubter’s peril. Because time and again Israel has demonstrated that it could steadfastly defend its interests even single-handedly in the Middle East. History bears this out.

However, a durable alliance with the US would stand Israel in good stead. On the matter of military and intelligence assistance, for example, the US’s help proved invaluable for Israel in the past and going forward this is bound to be so as well. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Trump administration would give up on Israel, considering that a strong Israel is crucial for the furtherance of the US’ strategic and economic interests in West Asia.

But whether the above factors would have a considerable bearing on the question of working out a durable solution to the West Asian tangle is an entirely different matter. Israel, as in the case of the Palestinian enclaves, is acutely security conscious and would need to satisfy itself fully that it could live in a security environment that would guarantee its complete safety, going forward.

The Middle East is badly in need of another peace effort on the lines of the Oslo Accords of the mid-nineties that brought the key actors together and helped hammer out a solution that addressed some of their notable concerns. To be sure, that process did not prove to be the ideal answer to the tangle, but it yielded some respite to the region and drove home that one-time sworn foes could indeed negotiate with a degree of success. The West Bank authority, although falling short of fulfilling some key Palestinian aspirations, is testimony that a degree of success is possible if the intent is right.

Given the current realities of West Asia, peace-making is bound to be an uphill challenge. The violence faced in recent times by the Palestinian community, in particular, has been nothing less than mind-numbing. Merciless has been the violence visited on them by the Israeli side. In such circumstances, durable peace in the region could smack of an idealist’s dream.

Nevertheless, there needs to be urgently, a meeting of minds over the divides. The US would need to be counted out as an honest broker in bringing the sides together but the rest of the West would do well to step up to the challenge.

In this exercise the onus would be on the world’s democracies to take the initiative and doggedly stay the course. An acceptable combination would be the EU and the UN. Given their credentials, the main sides in West Asia ought to find them the least controversial.

Even if the relevant institutional and political arrangements could be shored up to take a reconciliation process forward, winning hearts and minds for the peace drive would prove a grueling challenge. Over the past few years in particular tens of thousands of hearts and minds on both sides of the divide have been bruised badly in the runaway murderous violence that has come to define the Middle East.

These badly scarred personalities would need to experience healing without much delay. It is therefore a multi-faceted challenge that is at hand. Since wide-ranging expertise would be needed in the healing process, people’s participation in peace-making, ranging over the divides, would need to be made a durable reality. It will be a time for enthroning humanity and ensuring the rejection of all forms of violence and coercion.

Features

Amazing Thailand …right here in Colombo

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

For many Sri Lankans, Thailand is the go-to holiday — beaches, temples, food, and that famous warm hospitality.

In fact, I’ve been to Amazing Thailand 24 times myself, and was honoured with the Friends of Thailand International Media Award by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for promoting Thai tourism.

The good news I have for you today is that you don’t even need a passport to get a taste of Amazing Thailand.

The Royal Thai Embassy, in Colombo, is bringing a vibrant slice of Thailand, to the city of Colombo, with Thai Festival 2026 — a cultural experience like never before.

Whether you are an avid enthusiast of Thai culture, a total novice, or simply just interested in exploring foreign cultures, Thai Festival 2026 is going to be the perfect opportunity for you to get more than just a glimpse into one of the most celebrated cultural heritages in South East Asia. And ENTRANCE IS FREE.

The festival will be held on the 1st and 2nd of August, 2026, at Siam Nivasa, 43, C.W.W. Kannangara Mawatha, Colombo 7, and the East Parking Area, of the Colombo Municipal Council, from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Both days will be full of live entertainment, and dispersed throughout with Thai cultural displays, including exhilarating traditional dance performances and breathtaking Muay Thai demonstrations.

Exploring art and craft specific to Thailand, tasting irresistible authentic Thai cuisine, and playing arcade games, are just a few more fun-filled events available for visitors at the festival premises.

An array of Thai products will also be available for purchase.

While at the festival, you will find Sri Lankan Alumni from Thai universities sharing their experiences with you and willing to answer any questions you might have, related to studying abroad in Thailand.

You can also register for the Muay Thai workshop that will be happening on the 7th and 8th of August, 2026, in Colombo.

Irresistible authentic Thai cuisine

Visitors can also stand a chance to win traditional Thai souvenirs, get exclusive photo opportunities, and, the big one — to enter the raffle draw, at the end of each day, for the grand prize of an all-inclusive round trip to Thailand.

Be sure to avail yourself of this exceptional opportunity and add a cultural spin to your weekend.

To keep up with the latest updates on Thai Festival 2026, head over to the Thai Festival official social media pages.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo official webpage:

https://colombo.thaiembassy.org

Official social media:

Facebook: @RTEColombo

Instagram: @thaiembassysrilanka

Thai Festival official social media:

Facebook: Thai Festival in Colombo

Instagram: @thaifestival_colombo

TikTok: @thaifestival.incolombo

Features

Thicker, stronger hair …

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hair fall, in this heat, can be so frustrating, and noticing a thin patch is even more worrying. The good news is … yes, with a little care and kitchen ingredients, you can nourish your scalp and support healthy regrowth.

Try these four easy home remedies … even our grandmothers trusted:

* Coconut Oil and Curry Leaves Tonic:

Warm 04 tablespoons of coconut oil, with a handful of curry leaves, till the leaves turn black. Cool, strain, and massage into scalp 02-03 times a week. Leave for 01 hour, or overnight.

Why:

Coconut oil deeply nourishes, while curry leaves help strengthen roots and add shine.

* Onion Juice for Spot Treatment:

With cotton, dab the juice of 01 small onion, directly on the thin/bald patches. Leave for 20-30 minutes, and then wash with a mild shampoo. Use twice a week.

Why:

Rich in sulfur, onion juice helps boost blood circulation to the scalp.

* Aloe Vera and Castor Oil Mask:

Mix 02 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 tablespoon castor oil and apply to the scalp, focusing on thinning areas. Leave for 45 minutes, and then rinse with cool water.

Why:

Aloe vera soothes the scalp, while castor oil coats hair to make it look thicker.

* Fenugreek and Curd Strengthening Pack:

You will need 02 tablespoons fenugreek seeds, soaked overnight, and 02 tablespoons plain curd.

Grind to a paste, apply to scalp for 30 minutes, and then wash.

Why:

Fenugreek strengthens strands and reduces breakage.

Extra Tips for Healthy Hair:

Avoid tight hairstyles that pull on the scalp.

Eat iron and protein rich foods: greens, dhal, eggs, fish.

Use lukewarm water, not hot.

Be gentle when brushing and drying.