By P. Sreekumaran
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has attributed its ‘unexpected’ poor performance in the local bodies elections in Kerala to overconfidence and the big surge in religion-caste identity politics played by the Congress, the BJP and Islamist forces.
Analysing the reasons for the defeat, CPI(M) state secretary M. V. Govindan said the party leaders, including himself, and workers felt that victory was a foregone conclusion. That proved the LDF’s undoing. Besides, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP had orchestrated a communally-divisive narrative with the active help of revanchist forces across the religious spectrum for short-term electoral gains. The rightwing corporate media also played its part by shifting the focus of the political debate away from the issues affecting the common man.
The LDF’s campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections, a few months away, will be on exposing the unholy nexus between the Congress and the BJP in the State, averred Govindan.
The CPI(M) state secretary also accused the Congress and the BJP of indulging in tactical cross-voting to defeat the LDF. Other factors which did the LDF in were, according to him, organizational weaknesses in urban areas, the party’s failure to effectively counter the divisive propaganda and promote the development and livelihood politics.
However, the CPI(M) state chief drew comfort from the fact that the LDF had increased its vote share from 33.6 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections to 39. 7 per cent in the local bodies polls. The LDF also established a clear lead in 60 assembly constituencies, and lost a few other seats by narrow margins.
As part of the drive to pep up the campaign for the crucial assembly elections, the party secretary announced a statewide protest against the Union Government’s new law which undermined the MGNREGA that guarantees work for unskilled people. The protest includes laying siege to Lok Bhavan and to central government offices in the State.
The week beginning from January 15, 2026 would see the CPI(M) workers knocking on the doors of voters to push the development agenda to the fore. The campaign would also highlight how the Union Government’s ‘fiscal strangulation’ enfeebled the state and heaped misery on the people. On January 12, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would lead LDF MPs, MLAs and ministers in a sit-in protest against the Centre Palayam Martyrs Square in Thiruvananthapuram.
Govindan signalled the LDF’s intent to weaponise the Karnataka Government’s bulldozing of hundreds of houses of poor Muslims and Dalits in Bengaluru to take the wind out of the Congress’s so-called secular pro-minorities veneer. The LDF would also target the apologists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Congress to expose the Congress’s Hindu majoritarian mindset, which treats the minorities and Dalits as subaltern citizens.
Meanwhile, review of the loss in the local bodies elections made by the Communist Party of India (CPI) witnessed criticism against the Chief Minister. The CPI state executive committee felt that the unseemly hurry to sign the PM SHRI created doubts in the minds of people about a secret understanding with the BJP. It did damage the LDF’s pro-minorities stance to an extent.
The offence was compounded, the CPI felt, by the failure to rein in Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) chief Vellappally Natesan who unleashed a vituperative campaign against the minorities, especially Muslims. The CPI is of the view that the Chief Minister should have intervened to stop this anti-Muslim outburst of Natesan. This tactical mistake alienated a sizable slice of Muslims from the LDF.
The CPI also voiced its displeasure at the lack of consultations within the CPI(M) and the LDF on crucial issues. True, the Government changed its stance on PM SHRI following the strong protest made by the CPI. But the fact that it did sign the PM SHRI created doubts in the minds of the people about the pro-minorities credentials of the LDF, the CPI assessed.
The Sabarimala gold theft issue also adversely affected the LDF’s prospects, the CPI concluded. It made particular mention of the failure to take action against N. Padmakumar, former Devaswom Board president, who had been arrested. Here, the CPI(M)’s stance is that he has only been arrested. Nothing has been proved against him. When he is found guilty, action will be taken. That was the opinion voiced by the CPI(M) state secretary.
The CPI(M) differed with the CPI’s assessment that the Sabarimala issue harmed the LDF. The fact that the LDF won significant victories in the “Ayyappa heartland” proves that the issue had no appreciable effect. If the issue had impacted the result, then BJP would not have lost Pandalam and Kodungallur municipalities and a few other party strongholds. That was the crux of the CPI(M) argument.
The CPI also felt that except Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam Corporations, the party managed to maintain status quo. (IPA Service)
