THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major rethink on its stance on faith-related issues in the wake of the Sabarimala fiasco, the CPM has asked party cadre and followers not to antagonise the faithful. In a clear indication that the party wants to reach out to the faithful, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asked the party cadre not to abstain from local religious events and functions.
Kodiyeri also admitted to the erosion of CPM’s support base and called for an overhaul in the working of party units, from the branch committee to the state level.
Addressing the media after the party’s six-day leadership meet here on Friday, Kodiyeri said the party is not opposed to the faithful. The lower fractions can take appropriate decisions regarding the role to be played in local religious festivals. However, the CPM chief made it clear that the code of conduct for party cardholders - restrictions and regulations on religious matters - would continue.
The rethink comes in the wake of the drubbing in the last Lok Sabha election and the feedback that supporters were unhappy with the stance adopted by the party and the government on the Sabarimala issue.
The party, which held marathon discussions on what went wrong, is now making a last-ditch effort to bring back the scores of faithful who were originally part of the party’s core support base in the state. It is reliably learnt the party is not against its cadre taking part in temple and church committees, to win back people’s trust. This would help bring back the cadre who migrated to the Sangh Parivar, following the Sabarimala fiasco.
‘Cadre can indeed take part in religious activities’
“PARTY cardholders have a code of conduct. But we are not going to impose it on the masses. Party workers can take part in religious activities. The CPM is not against the faithful. The party has not banned workers from going to temple or church. There have, however, been attempts from certain corners to create such an impression. In the Sabarimala issue, the party’s critics were able to mislead a section of people,” said Kodiyeri.
Pragmatism to prevail
The party leadership is learnt to have decided not to go for further campaigning with its stance on the Sabarimala issue. The party cannot change its declared stance on the Sabarimala issue. However, any further action would be taken keeping the sentiments of devotees in mind. The party feels the government should not take any additional effort to facilitate women entry to Sabarimala temple.
To repeated questions on whether the CPM leadership has given any specific directives to party workers regarding taking part in religious festivals, Kodiyeri said party workers should not keep away from such events which will help them reach out to people. “In fact, they should help in such activities. The CPM’s stance on beliefrelated matters has been misconstrued. Majority of our party followers are believers. The CPM has always tried to protect the beliefs of the faithful,” said Kodiyeri.