In second term as Kerala CM, Pinarayi Vijayan stares at a Rs 3-trn debt

The state has negotiated a series of crises in the form of natural disasters to the Covid pandemic with a great amount of resilience since 2017

A bevy of social outreach measures and the 'caring strongman' image of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan helped CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front to retain power in Kerala, bucking the four-decade-old tradition of India’s southernmost state not re-electing the incumbent.
 
The victory has been comprehensive as the Left Front trounced principal opposition Congress across the state despite it pulling out all the stops, including holding massive roadshows by party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, in many parts of the state to wrest power. The Red also diminished a spirited BJP, which drew a blank in the 140-member Assembly where it