THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The triumph in Chelakkara and an improved showing in Palakkad have given the ruling CPM new confidence, organisationally and politically, to face the upcoming local body elections and the subsequent assembly elections as the anti-incumbency factor has hardly reflected in the bypoll results.
Significantly, this was the first time Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan — CPM’s face in any political or organisational battle over the past two decades — took a back seat. Instead, CPM state secretary M V Govindan took on the reins. The party has taken an equidistant position against both majority and minority communalism, as reflected in the attacks against UDF’s alleged nexus with Muslim fundamentalist organisations Jamaat-e-Islami and SDPI. The party also sharpened its criticism of the Hindutva plank.
The CPM also took a new path in formulating strategies. Till recently, fielding a defector from another party was unthinkable in the CPM. But the Palakkad result shows the gamble paid off as Sarin could increase the LDF vote share, albeit slightly, and the difference between the second-placed BJP and the CPM is only about 2,256 votes. The LDF has also increased its vote share from 25.64% in 2021 to 27.28% in the constituency.
In its sitting seat of Chelakkara, the CPM has performed well. While the opponents pointed out the lower majority compared to the 2021 assembly elections, the party leadership has dismissed it. “Comparing K Radhakrishnan and U R Pradeep is illogical. He had a personal clout in the constituency,” LSG Minister M B Rajesh told TNIE.