KANNUR: The explanations offered by the CPM state leadership regarding the party’s poor performance in the recent assembly elections do not reflect the ground reality, two rebel legislators who contested the polls with the backing of the UDF said on Thursday.
Addressing a press conference at the Kannur Press Club, Taliparamba MLA T K Govindan and his fellow lawmaker from Payyannur V Kunhikrishnan questioned CPM state secretary M V Govindan’s claim that the reasons for the defeat of the party-led LDF had been examined in detail.
Referring to the party’s electoral setbacks in the constituencies that they now represent, the two MLAs said the state committee is now attempting to place the onus on local units by suggesting that mistakes at the district level had contributed to the defeats.
“M V Govindan claimed that his election review was prepared after gathering opinions and suggestions of grassroots-level party workers through various meetings.However, when the reasons for the defeat were presented at a press conference, many of the concerns and observations raised by lower-level party members were not reflected in the appraisal,” said Govindan.
He alleged that 24 out of 27 candidates who were not approved by their respective mandalam committees were defeated. “District secretary K K Ragesh is not solely responsible for the party’s defeat in Kannur. The setback was due to the party’s stance,” he added.
Referring to Taliparamba, Govindan claimed that the CPM candidate was not approved by district secretariat, district committee or mandalam committee. He questioned how such a candidate eventually contested the election. “There were serious allegations against the candidate fielded in Payyannur.The district committee selected the candidates based on the advice of the state committee,”Govindan said, urging the party leadership to acknowledge that mistakes had been made in the candidate selection process instead of shifting blame.
The two stressed that the responsibility for the party’s heavy defeat should rest with the state secretary, who played a key role in candidate selection, and with Pinarayi Vijayan, who they claimed had been making major decisions for the party in Kerala in recent years.
“The CPM leadership is not making a sincere effort to correct its mistakes, and this became clear from the state secretary’s explanation. If serious allegations were raised against candidates, the state leadership should have investigated them. The state secretary himself admitted that mistakes were made in selecting candidates in Payyannur and Taliparamba. Those mistakes should be enunciated,” Kunhikrishnan observed.
The Payyannur MLA said that allegations of misappropriation of funds were raised against the CPM candidate in his constituency, while in Taliparamba it was allegations of nepotism that were levelled against the party contender. Kunhikrishnan argued that by admitting to mistakes in selecting both candidates, the party had indirectly acknowledged the concerns he had previously raised.
“If the party itself accepts that mistakes occurred, it should clearly explain what those mistakes were instead of making vague statements,” Kunhikrishnan said.