Ahead of Kerala Assembly polls, CM Vijayan faces multiple challenges

In the four years the Vijayan government has been in office, Kerala has had to battle cyclones (Ockhi and now, possibly, Nivar), two floods and two epidemiological disasters - Nipah and Covid-19

With months to go for the Kerala Assembly elections (due April-May 2021), Kerala Chief Minister and proud Communist Pinarayi Vijayan is having a torrid time of it. Otherwise known as an able administrator and undogmatic to a fault, he has been battling multiple challenges in the past six months of his tenure.

Take the latest, wholly avoidable controversy. The government amended Section 118A of the Kerala Police Act to impose rigorous punishment — five years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 — on anyone found to be bullying, insulting or disgracing individuals through any content. The offence included forwarding such