Is Pinarayi Vijayan a confused man, a split personality or just a politician who wears two hats? How else do you explain that the chief minister who frowns upon Kerala government employees celebrating Onam in offices while seeking support for the September 2 bandh call given by his party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)?

But this did happen, the Kerala chief minister taking a left turn and a right turn on the same day. On Friday at 5:07pm, Vijayan wrote on his Facebook page as a Marxist and two hours later at 7:12 pm, as chief minister. If work is worship, which it should be, particularly in lethargic government offices, Vijayan cannot hold the view that strike is worship this Friday.

Onam is the biggest festival in Kerala, a 10-day affair from September 4 to 14 this year. It is secular in nature, celebrated to mark the return of King Mahabali to his kingdom. So just about every Malayalee takes part in the festivities, marked by arrangement of flower carpets at homes, offices, shopping malls, you name it and lavish feasts in the run-up to D-day on September 14. Obviously work comes to a standstill at government offices, with everyone in celebration mood.

Vijayan wrote, “Onam celebrations take place in all government offices. Such celebrations and flower carpet competitions being held during office hours is not right … In this matter, government intervention will be ensured.”

It is a fair argument that government offices should not resemble recreational spots and in keeping with what Vijayan had said less than a month after taking over as Chief Minister.

In June, the new chief minister had shown signs of ushering in a new work ethic. He had warned government employees against sitting on files and asked them to shed the “colonial, negative” attitude of “examining files” to deny benefits to the public. What he said then made sense. “Each file has a throbbing life behind it and the employees should examine them with a positive attitude,” he had said.

But with the Onam post, Vijayan showed that he does not walk the talk. Because two hours before issuing the diktat against inappropriate Onam fervour at work, he had asked everyone through a Facebook post to extend support to the general strike called by the CPI(M) central committee on September 2. For the IT-savvy Keralite, Vijayan educated on the online campaign where by clicking on a link, they could express virtual solidarity with the cause.

The post read: “Ahead of the all-India strike on September 2, CPM central committee has begun an online campaign. You can show your support for the strike in the link below by clicking on the red button.”

How ethical is it for Vijayan, who occupies the post of the chief minister, to nudge his people to participate in a bandh and by extension, stay away from work? Given Kerala’s penchant for bandhs, it has acquired the sobriquet of ‘Hartal‘s own country’ over the years. Life comes to a standstill as offices, buses and commercial establishments do not risk facing the wrath of the powerful and militant trade unions. And when the CM of the state is himself supporting the bandh, expect Kerala to stay locked up this Friday.

In 2015, the state saw 300 regional strikes and three state-wide strikes. It means some part of Kerala was `bandh‘ almost every other day of the year.

A back-of-the-envelope calculation by the industry reveals that a one-day bandh in Kerala causes a loss of nearly Rs 1,000 crore to the state exchequer. And this does not include the agriculture sector. Which is why nudged by the Kerala High court, the Oommen Chandy government brought in the Kerala Regulation of Hartal Bill 2015 in November last year. But in the face of sharp criticism of its provisions by the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which was in the opposition then, it was referred to a Select Committee.

The LDF called the Bill “anti-people and anti-democratic”, arguing that the right to strike is a fundamental right. The anger was because the Bill provided for six months’ imprisonment or fine up to Rs 10,000 or both for forceful shutting down of shops or restricting officials from attending office.

Not surprising that Vijayan’s ‘I won’t practise what I preach’ persona has come in for criticism from opposition parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who accuse him of soliciting support for the strike, when he should be ensuring freedom of movement of citizens on hartal day.

Kerala’s work culture has also suffered over the years because Kerala’s political parties and trade unions are known to call for flash bandhs for the most trivial arguments going sour. They do not have to be a pan-state bandh to show their muscle. A flash hartal even in a village means, buses aren’t allowed to pass through the area, shops are shut, paralysing life in and around the region with its ripple effect.

The September 2 bandh seems like an annual affair – there was a Bharat Bandh last year as well. The demands include price control of essential commodities, fixing the minimum wages as per norms and social security. But would one day of shutting down India by force, make the Union government to come down on its knees? The jury is out on that one.

But even with or without the chief minister’s support or opposition, Kerala is in for an extended holiday this September. Government offices stay closed from September 10 to 16. With September 2 a forced day off, with compliments from the CM, and Onam festivities from September 4, during which all government offices will see celebrations despite the CM’s diktat, Kerala’s government staff will enjoy a paid holiday for a good two weeks.

God’s own country will be on vacation. Happy Onam.