THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM state unit, which has found itself under immense pressure after suffering an ignominious drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha elections, was further pushed on the back foot on Sunday when the politburo meeting in New Delhi criticised it for failing to foresee erosion in its traditional vote base.
The CPM-led Left Democratic Front suffered one of the worst defeats ever in the state, managing to win just one of the 20 seats on offer.
Senior leaders said the minority community kept a distance from the CPM. A section of the party faithful also drifted away, which is one of the main reasons for the debacle.
However, the report presented by the state leadership termed the setback temporary. The meeting asked it to find out the issues that caused the defeat. The politburo also decided to look into whether the Sabarimala factor dented the party’s electoral prospects.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, politburo members S Ramachandran Pillai, M A Baby, and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan also spoke at the meeting, which will continue on Monday.