Kerala Congress (M) blames minority backlash for election defeat

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KC(M) chairman Jose K. Mani inaugurating the party’s Idukki district committee meeting on Thursday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A Kerala Congress (M) district committee meeting convened to analyse the party’s recent Assembly election debacle concluded that backlash from minority communities led to the heavy defeat of the KC(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).

Inaugurating the meeting, the KC(M) chairman noted that while the LDF government had actively intervened in key issues — including the Munambam land dispute, ration card distributions, welfare pensions for nuns, and the appointment of differently-abled teachers — these achievements failed to gain traction during the election campaign.

According to party sources, district committee members were highly critical of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. They alleged that his public conduct and the ubiquitous presence of his billboards across the State further fueled the LDF’s electoral decline.

“The meeting highlighted that the Catholic Church took a highly negative stance against the LDF and the KC(M), which directly reflected in the miserable defeat of KC(M) candidates in Christian-dominated belts,” a senior party leader said. “Despite the LDF and KC(M) extending full support to the Catholic Church during their tenure, the Church did not reciprocate. We suspect a coordinated move by the Catholic Church against the KC(M) in this election.” Said the leader.

The leader expressed shock over the results in Idukki, noting that Roshy Augustine had been an accessible figure for all communities over the last 25 years and had frequently intervened in matters concerning the Catholic Church. “Despite Idukki being a Christian-majority constituency, Mr. Augustine suffered a pathetic defeat. It came as a total shock to us,” the leader added.

Committee members observed that the LDF government had taken significant steps to resolve local grievances, such as issuing title deeds for shop sites, passing the Land Assignment (Amendm