After a four-day review of the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the CPI(M) on Thursday said the party failed to “grasp the attitude of people”. The party found that its prospects were affected after Muslims rallied behind the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) while the BJP made inroads into the Left’s traditional vote bank of backward Hindus. Like five years ago, the LDF won only one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats, registering one of its worst performances in parliamentary elections in Kerala as its vote share dropped from 36.29 per cent to 33.34 per cent. After the review meeting was over, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan told the media, “Correction will be required at all levels. This will be binding on all. Kerala is a place where the CPI(M) can come back. The party proved it. We will go to people and will try to correct their misunderstandings,” he said. Referring to various factors that worked against the LDF in the elections, Govindan said, “We already had in mind the factors that could work against the Left. Despite that understanding, we thought the Left could win. That means we could not grasp the attitude of people. We have to be among people, understand their minds, and act accordingly,’’ he said. Asked how the party will try to correct itself, Govindan said it would prepare a framework of the activities of the state government and matters would be prioritised accordingly. Top priority would be given to the problems and grievances of weaker sections, according to the top CPI(M) leader. To interact with people at the grassroots level, the party will conduct people’s conventions at the local level. On the various factors that worked against the LDF, Govindan said voters in Kerala had a habit of factoring in national politics in any Lok Sabha election. According to the party’s assessment, when the INDIA bloc was fighting against the BJP at the national level, the fight between the Left and the Congress in Kerala had its limitations. The Left’s prospects were dented by people’s impression that only the Congress can form a government at the Centre, according to the CPI(M). Govindan said Muslim organisations such as the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), worked along with the UDF and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) as a coalition against the LDF. “This will have far-reaching consequences,” said the CPI(M) leader. Though the SDPI had offered to support the UDF in the parliamentary elections, the Congress rejected the offer saying that “the UDF is against both minority extremism and majority extremism”. During the campaign, the CPI(M) projected the Left as the only alliance that could steadfastly fight the BJP at the national level. Right from the outset, the party made the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), whose rules were notified by the BJP-led Centre just before the poll schedule was declared, as its main poll plank. Throughout the campaign, the CPI(M) alleged that the Congress was silent on the matter. However, the Congress and the IUML went on to win by big margins in all the seats in north Kerala where Muslims are a sizable section of the electorate. Elsewhere in Kerala, the CPI(M)’s single-point agenda is likely to have distanced Hindu and Christian votes from the Left. Govindan said the RSS and the BJP also exploited the caste factor. “A section of the SNDP Yogam, which was formed based on the ideas of Sree Narayana Guru, favoured the Sangh Parivar. With the formation of the Bharath Dharma Jana Sena (which has Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan’s son Thushar as president), a section of the Yogam turned pro-BJP. There was a situation in which different caste groups succumbed to the communal forces due to the operations of the RSS. With the formation of BDJS, a section worked in favour of the BJP in a concerted manner. A section of Christians took a pro-BJP approach, which was evident in Thrissur (where BJP candidate Suresh Gopi won).In Thrissur, it was the Christian votes in the Congress strongholds that went to the BJP,” he said. Govindan said the Left’s prospects were hit after the state government could not ensure the timely disbursement of several benefits that they were getting over the years. “The Centre adopted a stand to financially weaken the state and the Congress in Kerala backed it. Hence, we could not make several such payments to the people. It has reflected in the voting,’’ he said. According to Govindan, another factor that contributed to the LDF’s rout was the campaign of the “right-wing media against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his family”. He said, “There was a massive attack on Vijayan to shatter his image. That attitude of the media to attack Vijayan and his family is still going on. To a certain extent, it has influenced the voters.”
