THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: What proved costly for the party in the Thrikkakara byelection was the confusion around a political narrative among voters that the CPM chose to go with a Church-backed candidate instead of KS Arun Kumar, observed the CPM state committee. A two-member party commission comprising central committee member A K Balan and state secretariat member T P Ramakrishnan, will probe into the confusion over candidate selection, possible erosion of votes and other aspects of Thrikkakara byelection loss.
The CPM state committee meeting held on Saturday decided to appoint a party commission, after the party observed that there are still traces of factionalism in the Ernakulam unit. The report by the district committee regarding the poll performance too was discussed. The Ernakulam unit drew criticism at the state committee.
At the state committee, it was pointed out that the narrative over confusion in candidate selection cost the party dearly. The name of K S Arun Kumar was first floated as the Left candidate at a time when nothing was finalised.
“Then when the CPM finally zeroed in on a candidate, a narrative set in that he was a Church-sponsored candidate. That could have been avoided. The meeting of party leaders with Joe Joseph at the hospital too drew a lot of misinterpretation. The commission will look into all these aspects,” said sources. It’s learnt that at the state committee, many felt that the high-voltage campaigning at Thrikkakara too was uncalled for.