THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state committee on Friday decided to review the Lok Sabha election debacle at the district level and to wait till the LDF discussed the poll performance to appoint a panel for probing the factors that had contributed to the defeat of bigwigs such as M A Baby and A Vijayaraghavan.
The decision to wait for an LDF review could be seen against the backdrop of the criticism that the CPM leadership was taking decisions unilaterally.
During the discussion on the evaluation report presented by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, members observed that a Kairali TV interview allegedly showing Mata Amritanandamayi and her ashram in a poor light had cost the party dear in the coastal belts of Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. There was criticism that the party-controlled TV channel had vested interests in interviewing Amma’s former disciple Gail Tredwell ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
It’s also learnt that the members expressed serious concern over the huge erosion of the CPM’s Hindu votes and the consolidation of those votes in favour of the BJP. The party’s alleged moves to lure minorities while ignoring the traditional vote bank also came in for criticism. Some members said there was a state-level Hindu consolidation against the CPM as the party had fielded several Muslims and Christians.
The erosion of Nair votes, it was pointed out, had also cost the party dear in Kollam, Alappuzha, Mavelikkara, Thiruvananthapuram and other constituencies.
Members asked the party leadership to take urgent steps to check the erosion of votes in favour of the BJP and warned that failure in checking the erosion would result in serious repercussions. Pinarayi’s derogatory remarks against N K Premachandran also drew flak.
Meanwhile, the CPI state council criticised the party’s state and central leadership for the “wrong choice” of candidate in Thiruvananthapuram. According to sources, party state secretary Panniyan Ravindran and legislature party leader C Divakaran bore the brunt of the attack for fielding Bennet Abraham. Former general secretary A B Bardhan was criticised for making the public statement that an Independent would be put up in Thiruvananthapuram.