KOLLAM: The CPM state secretariat has decided to probe the failure of LDF candidates in four of the sitting seats. The seats are Kundara where minister J Mercykutty Amma was defeated by Congress candidate P C Vishnunadh, Tripunithura where firebrand young leader M Swaraj was defeated by former minister K Babu, Chalakudy where KC (M) candidate Dennies K Antony was defeated by Congress new face Saneeshkumar Joseph and Kalpetta where LJD state president M V Sreyamskumar was defeated by T Siddique.
The secretariat which met on Monday considered failure in these four seats as unexpected and wanted to probe further to find out the real reasons. “All these four seats were rated as winnable by the district committees concerned before and after the polling. There were complex issues like the mass absence of BJP votes in Kundara and Tripunithura. The probe will be to analyse all these factors,” said a senior leader.
The state committee meeting on May 18 is likely to discuss the secretariat’s recommendation and appoint committees to conduct the probe. The lone minister who lost the race was J Mercykutty Amma. Though she has levelled vote trade allegation between Congress and BJP there, the CPM leadership calculates that there might be other reasons too. In Kundara, the same candidate won by over 30,000 votes last year and there was large scale vote erosion this time. The NDA votes decreased by 14,000 in Kundara, but, if the CPM could ensure all its votes, victory could have been ensured, said a CPM leader. Total votes polled by Mercykutty Amma decreased by around 7,500 votes.
In Tripunithura, BJP candidate K S Radhakrishnan himself levelled the allegation that BJP votes were polled by Congress candidate K Babu. In a nail-biting finish, M Swaraj lost by less than 1000 votes here. In 2016, Swaraj defeated Babu by 4467 votes. In Chalakudy where CPM candidate B D Devasy had won by over 26,000 votes last time, candidate of the new constituent party, KC (M), lost by a thin margin of 1057 votes. In Thrissur, Chalakudy couldn’t be retained.
It is learnt KC (M) has forwarded a complaint to the leadership about the lack of support by the local CPM leadership for their candidate. In Kalpetta, the top leader of the new constituent party, Loktanthric Janata Dal faced defeat though the LDF had won the seat by over 13,000 votes in 2016. The incumbent MLA and CPM leader P P Saseendran had led the campaign for Sreyamskumar and the party machinery also worked well. However, Siddique won the seat by nearly 6,500 votes.