Kannur: As the CPM’s district-level review meetings continue to fix accountability for the crushing election defeat and push for course-correction, the party leadership appears to have settled on an explanation: a “frenzied surge of communal forces”.

It began with CPM Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh. Then, senior leader and former LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan echoed the line in a more ideological tone. On Wednesday, Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan effectively endorsed the narrative by publicly defending Ragesh’s remarks on “minority communalism”.

This, despite many party district committees blaming the party leadership and their decisions for the rout. Speaking at an event in Kannur on Tuesday, Ragesh said the LDF and the CPM lost because of the “frenzied surge of minority communalism”. “This election saw the frenzied surge of minority communalism. It saw the Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami calling for votes along religious lines, urging people to vote based on their mosques,” he said.

“The BJP, RSS and the Sangh Parivar know they can grow stronger in Kerala only if the Left weakens in the state. So this election also witnessed what they themselves call strategic voting. What is strategic voting? If the Left is leading in a constituency by a narrow margin and can be defeated, transfer the vote. If the Congress or the UDF faces the possibility of defeat, prevent it by transferring votes. Kannur district witnessed that,” he said.

Vijayaraghavan later expanded the argument, saying all communal forces had grown stronger with the election verdict.

“This verdict has strengthened all communal forces. What causes anxiety is the impact it will have on Kerala society. All communal forces worked against the Left parties. The Left could not counter the depth of the communal agenda,” he said.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) sought to puncture the Left’s narrative by pointing to constituency-level outcomes.

Youth League Kannur district general secretary Shajeer Iqbal Dalit asked whether “communal forces” were responsible for Ragesh losing his own ward, his own panchayat, Munderi, and his own Assembly constituency, Kannur, all now represented by the UDF.

Dripping in sarcasm, Iqbal said: “In Payyannur, League workers made V Kunhikrishnan ‘Sahib’ win by looking at the Vellur Juma Masjid. In Taliparamba, League workers made T K Govindan ‘Musliyar’ win by looking at religion. In Irikkur, League workers made Sajeev Joseph win by looking at the Nilamuttam mosque. In Peravoor, League workers made Sunny Joseph ‘Sahib’ win by looking at religion. In Kannur, League workers made T A Mohanan ‘Thangal’ win by looking at the city Juma Masjid.”

The Muslim League also pointed out that its Kannur district president, Abdul Kareem Chelery, lost in Azhikode, a constituency with a sizable Muslim population, to CPM’s K V Sumesh.

Similarly, in neighbouring Trikaripur in Kasaragod district, CPM’s V P P Mustafa lost to Congress candidate Sandeep Varier despite the constituency also having a sizable Muslim population.

To be sure, members of the CPM's Kasaragod District Committee blamed the party's decision to field incumbent T I Madhusoodanan in Payyannur as the reason for Mustafa losing in neighbouring Trikaripur. The party had never lost the two constituencies before.

On Wednesday, however, Pinarayi Vijayan -- the two-time Chief Minister and the party’s tallest leader in the country now -- gave public backing to the argument advanced by Ragesh and Vijayaraghavan. “This is an era when all communal forces compete against one another to destroy the unity of the people,” Pinarayi said.

“A false narrative is being created that a struggle against political communal Hindutva is against Hindus and the Hindu religion, and that a protest against political communal Islamism is against Muslims and Islam. This is being done both to escape criticism and to strengthen both communal sides,” he said.

Without naming critics directly, Pinarayi referred to the backlash against Ragesh’s remarks. “You saw it yesterday, too. At an event, Ragesh spoke against minority communalism. But attempts were immediately made to portray what he said as being against a section of people,” he said. The designated Leader of Opposition ignored Ragesh's sweeping statement that people voted on communal lines to defeat Left candidates.

Pinarayi was speaking after releasing 'Sanathanikalude Hindutva Vazhikal', a book by party strongman P Jayarajan, in Kannur. Reacting to the latest remarks, Shajeer Iqbal Dalit said: “There was a small hope that this election result would make the Left sit down and introspect. They show no signs of improving… good for them.”