THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the CPM state committee decided to rectify the organisational and political shortcomings that plagued its Kerala election campaigning, the party on Tuesday alleged an electoral understanding between the BJP and UDF in around 30 assembly constituencies.
“The BJP helped the UDF win in these constituencies by transferring votes. In return, UDF helped BJP in seats that it had no realistic chance of winning,” CPM state secretary M V Govindan told reporters on Tuesday.
“The BJP’s vote share was lower than in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Rahul Gandhi has now clarified that he demanded the arrest of Pinarayi Vijayan by the Enforcement Directorate after state Congress leaders informed him about an alleged CPM-BJP deal,” he said.
In light of its electoral setback, the party has decided to seek public opinion, Govindan said, adding,“We welcome suggestions from all sections of society as we prepare a programme to move forward with greater political and organisational clarity.”
For this, CPM has launched an initiative, ‘Puthuvazhikal’, and created an email address (puthuvazhikal@gmail.com) and WhatsApp account (+91 7994777168) to collect public feedback.
“The CPM state committee failed to foresee the magnitude of the setback suffered by LDF and has accepted the shortcomings through self-criticism,” Govindan said.
He said although there was broad acceptance of the LDF government’s performance, the latter failed to adequately address issues affecting traditional sectors such as construction, coir and cashew.
“At the organisational level, there were weaknesses from the top leadership down to lower-level committees in implementing decisions and developing political perspectives. However, the party does not believe the setback was the result of any individual’s shortcomings, as the CPM functions on the basis of collective decision-making,” he said, when asked about the role of then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the state leadership in the defeat.
Govindan admitted that the CPM failed to secure support from all sections of society, but asserted that it could not be said that any single
section united to defeat the Left front. “However, the campaign by Muslim League, Jamaat-e-Islami and Congress over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise alienated sections of Muslim community from the Left. Such identity-based politics can have wider ramifications for society,” he said.
Govindan also acknowledged that there was self-criticism within the state committee over the leadership’s failure to sharply criticise SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan.
“Reading out a statement by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the inauguration of the Global Ayyappa Sangamam was a mistake. There was also a delay in initiating disciplinary action against former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar after he was charged and arrested in the Sabarimala gold theft case,” he said.
He added that it was unlikely that criticism by Vinodini, wife of the late CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was directed at him. Govindan also clarified that CPM had no connection with Exalogic Solutions, the company run by Pinarayi’s daughter Veena T. “The CPM opposes attempts to link Pinarayi Vijayan to the ED case involving Exalogic Solutions,” he said.
In what could be read as the initial steps of post-poll corrections from the Left camp, CPM state committee member P Jayarajan on Tuesday took a dig at the Vellappally Natesan, saying the SNDP Yogam general secretary had a “foot in both camps.”
“While he is SNDP Yogam’s general secretary and chief of Renaissance Protection Forum, his son is the chief of BDJS, which is with the Sangh Parivar powers and his wife Preethi Natesan is busy whitewashing BJP candidates,” Jayarajan said at discussions over his recently-released book Sanatanikalude Hindutva Vazhikal. The Renaissance Protection Forum was formed by the then LDF government in 2018.
“Kerala society must identify Vellappally’s dual faces,” Jayarajan said, alleging that those in top positions at Sree Narayana institutions were now acting against the vision of Sree Narayana Guru. He said the Left has played a crucial role in maintaining Kerala as an “island where secular values have never been lost.”
“It was not when the constitution incorporated shades of secularism that Kerala society developed such an inclusive attitude. It was through the thoughts of our renaissance leaders, including Sree Narayana Guru, Ayya Vaikunda Swamikal, Chattambiswami, Vagbhadanandan and Ayyankali, which should be re-read,” he said.
