CPI(M) leadership ignoring real reasons behind poll debacle, allege Govindan and Kunhikrishnan

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Former CPI(M) leaders and Independent MLAs T.K. Govindan and V. Kunhikrishnan on Thursday accused the CPI(M) State leadership of ignoring the real reasons behind the party’s defeat in the recent Assembly elections and shifting the blame to lower-level committees. Speaking at the Kannur Press Club, they alleged that the State committee’s review report had failed to reflect discussions held across party units after the elections. Mr. Govindan said cadres had attributed the defeat to the leadership’s anti-democratic functioning, erosion of inner-party democracy, controversial candidate selection, and positions that alienated secular-minded supporters, but these concerns were omitted from the review. He questioned the decision to hold district committees responsible for the defeat in Payyannur and Taliparamba, claiming that local and district committees had strongly opposed the candidates who were eventually fielded. Of the 27 candidates fielded by the party, 24 were defeated, and many of them lacked the approval of district, area, or local committees, he said. “The candidates were selected despite widespread resistance within the party,” Mr. Govindan alleged. He said the leadership was unwilling to accept responsibility while portraying lower-level committees as solely accountable for the defeat. He maintained that district committees had conveyed their objections, and that State leaders, including M.V. Govindan, were aware of the opposition. Mr. Govindan further claimed that controversies related to university appointments and other administrative decisions had created doubts among voters. He also alleged that criticism of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s functioning, widely discussed within the party, was not mentioned in the review report. Mr. Kunhikrishnan accused the leadership of disregarding inner-party democracy and ignoring objections raised by party units during candidate selections. On Payyannur, he said the LDF lost more than 25,000 votes compared with the 2021 el