No signs of LDF revival in Kerala, CPI(M) leads in lone seat

The result in Kerala for the CPI(M) is seen to have implications for it at the national level, and thus the party had fielded senior leaders like Politburo member A Vijayaraghavan in Palakkad, Rajya Sabha member Elamaram Kareem in Kozhikode and popular leader K K Shailaja in Vadakara.

Reacting to the party’s performance, CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan said, “The party and the government will examine every factor. We will look into whether corrections are required. We have not approached the election claiming that we are correct cent per cent.

Party insiders said it had never expected a pro-Congress wave in Kerala. Right from the outset, the party had claimed that the Congress-led UDF would not repeat its 2019 performance, but it failed to pose a formidable challenge.

The party, which is a part of the INDIA bloc with the Congress at the national level, was bitter in its attacks on the grand old party in Kerala.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led the CPI(M)’s campaign, which was largely centred around “the Congress not taking a stand against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)”. However, its support base saw erosion even in Muslim-dominated areas of North Kerala.

The CPI(M) was looking to repeat its 2004 performance, when the LDF had won 18 seats. In 2009, it had won four seats, in the election held a year after the Left withdrew support to the UPA government over the nuclear deal. In 2014 too it had won eight seats.

The party can find solace though in the fact that Kerala has by and large preferred the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. And that after its near wipeout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the LDF had staged a comeback in Kerala in the 2020 local body and Assembly polls the following year.