A day before the governor green-signaled his prosecution, CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had been breathing fire against JD(S) president MP Veerendrakumar and Christian churches in Kerala ? specifically, over their role in the party?s electoral debacle in the state.

His outburst disregarded the suggestion of party general secretary Prakash Karat that the JD(S) should be brought back into the LDF fold and the party should woo the Christian community. There was not even a whiff of compromise in Vijayan?s words. That has been the style of the 65-year-old comrade.

Groomed in Kannur, blood-stained by the political violence between the Communists and the Parivar, Vijayan has always posed a challenge to detractors within the party and outside.

Heading the party state unit since 1998, he has had his own way in the party, whatever be the repercussions. Fellow comrades, editors and bishops have faced the heat of his acerbic words and deeds.

A few years ago, four young comrades were suspended from the party on the charge that they had gone to have a look at his palatial mansion at Pinarayi. Comrades and critics could not stomach how Vijayan, born the youngest of the 14 children of Mundayil Koran, a toddy tapper, could built a crorepati?s house.

Vijayan?s USP in the party is his organisational clout. While the party state unit has been rocked by controversies, Vijayan has managed to steer clear of them. Even now, when the party is being buffeted by Lavalin, the mother of all scams to hit the Left, Vijayan has ensured the support of the entire party machinery.

This economics graduate?s supremacy over the organisation has brought in drastic changes in the party. The party which had strayed from its professed policies in several vital areas, found new political partners and hobnobbed with controversial businessmen. It grew a structure like a multi-faceted business house, running high-tech hospitals, TV channels, tourism projects and co-operative ventures. A five-star hotel project is in the pipeline even as the party confronts its worst ever political crisis.