Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's quite well known stubborn character and adamant stands are under attack after the left front's fiasco in the Lok Sabha polls.
PTI file photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Overt and covert criticisms from within the Left Democratic Front (LDF) holding the Pinarayi Vijayan government responsible for the poor performance of LDF in the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala and cyber attacks during the election campaigns backfiring on the CPM have triggered unrest in the LDF.
As the CPM leadership began a five day meet from Sunday for in-depth evaluation of the poll performance, chances are high that the resentment within the party against the Vijayan government could be raised.
It is not only that the LDF could win only one out of the 20 seats in Kerala, but also the matter of how the BJP gained in many strongholds of CPM. LDF that came to power by winning 99 seats in 2021, had a lead only in 18 assembly segments now.
Vijayan reiterated in the Assembly the other day that upper hand for the Congress in fighting against the BJP at the national level was the reason for LDF's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Kerala and his government's performance has nothing to do.
But this had not gone down well with party leaders in Kerala. Party senior leaders like state secretary M V Govindan, former finance minister Thomas Issac and senior leader P Jayarajan made statements citing lapses of the state government, especially the mounting dues of social welfare pensions to the over 60 lakh people from weaker sections.
This apart, CPI, which is the second largest party in the LDF, is also pointing fingers at the lapses of the state government as reason for the rout in the polls. Minority appeasement going overboard, extravaganza of the government, allegations against Vijayan's daughter and mounting dues of payments to weaker sections were reportedly cited by CPI cadres during evaluation meetings of the party.
Community leaders like SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan, who represents the Hindu-Ezhava community, had also accused that CPM's focus on Muslim appeasement had caused dents in Ezhava and other backward communities vote banks of the party.
Meanwhile, the CPM is also on the backfoot over poll-related cyber wars.
The CPM was accusing the UDF for a communally-toned social media campaign targeting former health minister K K Shailaja, who was CPM candidate at Vadakara in north Kerala. But the police filed a report the other day that so far there was no evidence against the UDF activist. Among those who shared the post include senior CPM senior leader and former MLA K K Lathika. As the issue seemed to be backfiring, she deleted the post on Sunday.
Even as CPM cadres widely used social media platforms for propaganda, party senior leader M V Jayarajan, who got defeated by Congress state president K Sudhakaran at Kannur, had said that social media campaigns against the party was a reason for the party's election setback.