Kerala elections: CPM’s bold assembly poll ticket gamble
The ruling CPM trod a brave path when it announced its list of candidates for the Kerala Assembly elections, dropping 33 sitting MLAs, including some powerful ministers and mass leaders. Its gamble of deploying young and new faces paid off in the recent local body elections, but there’s no guarantee that the same strategy can yield results in a state polls where factors at work are vastly different.
Despite being aware of the risks involved, the party valiantly chose to stick to its radical decision of not fielding those who have contested the last two Assembly polls, ignoring the protests and poster campaigns unleashed by party workers at an unprecedented scale. The CPM will certainly have to manage the repercussions and may even pay an electoral price. But for now, the party has managed to implement a strategy that it believes will help it retain power.
Besides candidate selection, sections of the CPM’s rank and file are also upset about the seat-sharing. The fact is that the CPM can illafford to ignore the sentiments of the cadre, the backbone of the organisation. The last time the party had to deal with public protests by workers was in 2006 when veteran leader V S Achuthanandan was denied a ticket to contest. It had to buckle under pressure and field Achuthanandan, who led the Left Front to a famous victory and became chief minister.
In the next Assembly polls in 2011, poor candidate selection was said to be the reason for the alliance’s narrow defeat. What has to be noted here is that the past experiences have not deterred the party from taking bold decisions this election. The decision to deny seats to about 50% of the current legislators and keep leaders like Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran and E P Jayarajan away from the contest underscores the party’s confidence in its capabilities and belief in its strategies.
To go with 38 fresh faces when the prudent thing to do is to stick to the proven warhorses requires courage. Whatever may be the outcome, the CPM deserves a pat on its back for displaying the nerve to test its bench strength in a crucial poll and give youngsters a chance.