It is a general assumption among Malayalis that human lives are not as cheap in Kerala as in the rest of India. The existence of a vibrant media, progressive youth wings of political parties, and a robust civil society – though partly silenced under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan – ensured that it continuously maintained this standard.
Little wonder, then, that the suicide of former Additional District Magistrate Naveen Babu triggered a massive outcry. Babu allegedly took his life in October 2024, after being publicly humiliated by Kannur district panchayat president PP Divya, who had accused him of corruption during his farewell function.
But this wasn’t the only incident that challenged Kerala’s belief in upholding human life and dignity. The December 2024 deaths of Wayanad District Congress Committee treasurer NM Vijayan and his son Jijesh, suffering from a mental condition, also shook the state.
Vijayan’s suicide note, released by his family just last week on 7 January and addressed to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee President K Sudhakaran, shed light on the grim circumstances that forced Vijayan to take such an extreme step. Having spent a lifetime in the Congress, Vijayan, 78, was reeling under mounting loans – accrued as part of his loyalty to the party.
Corruption galore
The operative part of Vijayan’s letter revealed that the Congress party in Wayanad had been running a bribe-for-jobs scheme in the cooperative sector banks it controlled in the district. Even for sweeper positions, people shelled out lakhs in advance at the behest of top leaders such as Wayanad DCC president ND Appachan and Sultan Bathery MLA IC Balakrishnan, among others, through Vijayan.
When the party could not provide these jobs due to loss in cooperative bank elections, or as a result of court setbacks, Vijayan took upon himself to pay back these advances on his own, even mortgaging his property as instructed by these very leaders. Vijayan felt compelled to do so because he was dealing directly with job aspirants; the other leaders simply washed their hands off.
Vijayan’s misery was further compounded when his son Jijesh was dismissed from a part-time sweeper job at Sultan Bathery Urban Co-operative Bank. Jijesh had held that daily wage job for seven years for a measly allowance of Rs 200.
Also read: There’s no questioning ‘Captain’ Vijayan in Kerala—not even his oversized role in LDF’s defeat
A Congressman even in death
Vijesh, Vijayan’s surviving son, explained that, in a personal letter attached to the suicide note, his father had requested him to give 10 days to the Congress leadership to settle the issue; he could go public with the letter only after that. This request shows that Vijayan did not want to disappoint the party even after being compelled to take his own life.
Vijayan meticulously made copies of his letter, which he addressed to Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Rahul Gandhi, among others. His son personally took the letters to K Sudhakaran in Kannur and to VD Satheesan in Kochi. Both reportedly did not give the family any assurances to settle their loans, instead passing the buck.
The family decided to release the contents of Vijayan’s letter after feeling let down further. Satheesan reportedly told them that the letter lacked “clarity”, and that the “debts were caused by individuals, and not the Congress party”.
Baffling response
Congress’ response to the suicide note after it went public was even more baffling.
VD Satheesan continued to maintain that the note lacked “clarity”, even as K Sudhakaran trivialised the family’s plight. Ramesh Chennithala was quick to come to the defense of IC Balakrishnan, leader of his faction in the district, calling him an “honest leader”.
Their minions behaved worse on TV news debates, trying to punch holes in the letter and casting aspersions on the family. In the process, Kerala was witness to the rank double standards of Congress, which had till now been scoring political brownie points over Naveen Babu’s death.
The damage control began only later, when it became clear that things could spiral out of control. K Sudhakaran seemed to make an admission of guilt when he stated that he had cautioned the leaders in Wayanad about the repercussions of leaving the issue unresolved. The party then announced a fact-finding committee led by veteran leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan.
The members of the committee turned up at Vijayan’s home in Sulthan Bathery and promised to settle all outstanding issues, wording their response carefully while interacting with the media. The family, clutching at straws, had no option but to back the party in return.
As things stand, the Kerala police have proceeded to register a case against IC Balakrishnan and ND Appachan. But the court has granted them temporary relief from arrest until 15 January.
Who was NM Vijayan?
It is important to recall the contributions of NM Vijayan to the Congress. A compatriot of party veterans Mullappally Ramachandran and A Sujanapal, Vijayan held charge as the Mandalam secretary and president of Sulthan Bathery before going on to serve as the president and vice-president of Bathery panchayat from 1998-2000 and 2000-2005 respectively.
In his letter addressed to the KPCC chief, Vijayan recollects that K Sudhakaran, as minister under AK Antony in 1995, had stayed at his home instead of putting up at a government accommodation during a visit to Bathery. Vijayan also recalls that his selection to the rank of sub-inspector was withheld from him and cancelled at the behest of senior colleague KK Ramachandran through K Karunakaran, because he was rated highly as a cadre in the 1970s.
Vijayan was a K Karunakaran loyalist all the way, and joined the breakaway Democratic Indira Congress (DIC) floated by the former Kerala chief minister in 2005, only to return to the Congress later. He became the DCC treasurer in 2015, and held that charge until his death last month.
Vijayan’s suicide note leaves many unanswered questions. It is abundantly clear that Congress’s top brass was involved in running a cash-for-job scam in the district, and from Sudhakaran’s subsequent response, it became clear that the party was aware about it all.
Why did the party not initiate a clean-up before Vijayan’s death, then?
By all accounts, the factionalism within Kerala Congress is responsible for such a sorry state of affairs.
K Sudhakaran’s failure to enforce his writ in the party has been a glaring feature of his term. IC Balakrishnan’s proximity to Ramesh Chennithala is well-known and that might have influenced Satheesan’s response too. The fact that ND Appachan’s appointment as DCC president was cleared by none other than Rahul Gandhi should also find mention here.
While the Left and the Congress have always aligned against the Centre’s attempts to tweak the rules governing the cooperative sector, there is no end to the common person’s woes. People are increasingly losing their trust in the sector as bad loans keep accruing.
The standard practice of renewing bad loans every year at a higher amount (adding the compound interest to the principal amount), reveals that the sector controlled by political parties might soon be heading for a deeper crisis.
Congress state of affairs
Even now, the Congress has failed to initiate proper action against the Wayanad DCC. That this is happening in a constituency currently represented in Parliament by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (and Rahul Gandhi before her) only complicates matters further.
The Political Affairs Committee – the highest decision-making body of the party in Kerala – hasn’t met in a year-and-a-half. A long-awaited PAC meeting scheduled for 12 January was put off by a week due to differences among leaders.
With less than a year to go for the crucial local body polls, the leaders seem to be working at cross-purposes, busy projecting themselves as chief-ministerial faces.
There is absolutely no communication between VD Satheesan and K Sudhakaran, and the latter’s poor health only complicates matters further. Satheesan has also been planting stories in the local media of his loyalists Roji M John and Sunny Joseph replacing Sudhakaran as the next PCC chief.
In many ways, the suicide note of NM Vijayan reflects the poor and uncertain state of affairs in Kerala Congress.
The author is a Kerala-based journalist and columnist. He tweets @AnandKochukudy. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)