THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the CPM state secretariat hinted at Sabarimala as one of the major issues that led to LDF’s electoral drubbing, fissures have started surfacing in the Left over the issue. But, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday openly ruled out that Sabarimala did not reflect in the polls.
The party leadership had observed erosion of Hindu votes from the Left camp to the UDF. Veteran Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai, who recently migrated to the Left fold, hit out at the front for poor handling of the issue. He said the Sabarimala issue cost the front dearly. The stance taken by the NSS was the right approach, he said. CPM central committee member and Finance Minister Thomas Isaac and state secretariat member Anathalavattom Anandan too said Sabarimala made an impact on the electoral defeat.
Isaac observed in a Facebook post that the communal campaigning by the Congress and BJP over Sabarimala succeeded in misleading a section of voters who traditionally supported the Left.
Anathalavattom Anandan, at a news conference, pointed to the lapses on the part of the Left in the erosion of votes.
Meanwhile, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said there was nothing wrong in the stance taken by the Left and the state government on the issue.
On Friday, the CPM state secretariat, without mentioning Sabarimala, had said the right wing forces were able to mislead the faithful which led to the LDF losing its traditional votes.
However, a day after, Pinarayi, in his first response to the media, said that Sabarimala did not reflect in the polls. The opinion did not go down well with many Left leaders who openly disagreed with it.