Two rebel legislators who won the recent Assembly elections with UDF support have urged the CPM leadership in Kerala to take responsibility for the party’s electoral setbacks instead of attributing them to local-level failures.
Speaking at a press conference in Kannur, Taliparamba MLA T.K. Govindan and Payyannur MLA V. Kunhikrishnan challenged CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan’s assessment of the election results, arguing that it failed to accurately reflect concerns raised by grassroots party workers.
According to T.K. Govindan, many observations made by local party members during internal discussions were absent from the leadership’s official review. He claimed that a large number of candidates who lacked approval from their respective mandalam committees were defeated, indicating flaws in the candidate selection process.
The legislators rejected attempts to place responsibility on district-level leaders, maintaining that key decisions were taken by the state leadership. Govindan alleged that candidates in constituencies such as Taliparamba and Payyannur were chosen despite opposition within local party structures and despite concerns raised about them.
Both MLAs argued that accountability for the LDF’s poor performance should rest with the state leadership, particularly M.V. Govindan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whom they said had significant influence over major party decisions.
Kunhikrishnan noted that allegations relating to financial irregularities and nepotism had been raised against candidates in Payyannur and Taliparamba, respectively. He said the party’s acknowledgment of mistakes in candidate selection indirectly validated concerns that had been voiced earlier.
The legislators called on the CPM leadership to clearly explain the nature of the errors made during candidate selection and to undertake a genuine effort to address the issues that contributed to the party’s defeat.
