THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of being named the Leader of Opposition (LoP), veteran leader Pinarayi Vijayan along with CPM state secretary M V Govindan drew severe flak at party district meets. Despite tall claims of course correction, the leadership seems to be paying scant regard for resentment brewing among its rank and file, opined lower-level leaders.
They feel the leadership is still eager to cover up for them. Taking a cue from criticism vented at the state meet, the district meetings since Friday witnessed pointed attacks at Pinarayi and Govindan.
Squarely putting the blame on the two, leaders at the district units trained guns at them for making the correction exercise a mere farce.The autocratic style followed by the former chief minister along with blatant organisational lapses caused by the secretary led to the humiliating defeat, was the general opinion.
The district committee meetings at Kollam, Kannur and Pathanamthitta were particularly critical of the Kannur strongman. At Pathanamthitta meet, criticism came up against Veena George. In Ernakulam, criticism came up against Pinarayi and P Rajeeve.
“It seems the leadership still hasn’t learnt anything. Going by the current scenario, there would only be some cosmetic changes. Even now decisions are taken unilaterally. Otherwise why should he be made the LoP, that too even before discussions at district committees? The masses view it with the same contempt that they had when he was the chief minister. Even now the leadership hasn’t realised the real sentiment among the cadre and the public. Even now they are justifying the decision,” rued a district leader.
While Pinarayi is being targeted for his autocratic style of functioning as well as his unacknowledged endorsement of the build-up of a personality cult around him,Govinan drew flak for lapses in Kannur, especially the failures in Thaliparamb and Payyannur.
“Campaigns centred around Pinarayi created the impression of a personality cult being built, which is unprecedented in Communist parties. Obviously the leadership was too weak to correct him. Such deviations are not a sudden phenomenon. It has been going on for two decades. Unless and until we address the same, the Left base would be lost,” a state committee member told TNIE.
Certain remarks made by Pinarayi just before the elections, coupled with naming him to lead the front again too drew criticism. “There was no need to make him LoP after the defeat. Failure to distance himself from Vellappally Natesan’s anti-minority remarks caused irrevocable damage in the Malabar region where we were slowly building up a base,” observed another district leader.
Acute vote erosion in the Left stronghold of Kollam too saw many members come down heavily on the leadership. Back in 2021 itself, the LDF suffered a 4% dip in voteshare, which further went down by another 8% this time. Criticism seems to be heading to a flashpoint, pointed out a state leader who targeted Govindan. “P K Shyamala’s candidature had a ripple effect across the state. It affected the entire rank and file and led to vote erosion across the state. Candidate selection was a total failure,” the leader said.
State secretariat members Thomas Isaac and Saji Cherian meanwhile defended the decisions. Speaking to media, Isaac said the party had unanimously elected Pinarayi as the LoP.
