Thiruvananthapuram: CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam on Wednesday said his party would not interfere in the CPM’s decision on selecting the Opposition leader after the LDF’s defeat in the Kerala Assembly elections.

In a Facebook post, Viswam termed as false media reports linking the CPI to discussions over the Opposition leader’s post. “It is the right of the CPM to choose the Opposition leader. The CPI does not wish to interfere in that,” he said.

The LDF was reduced to 35 seats out of the 140 in the Assembly after ruling Kerala for 10 years under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The CPM won 26 seats, while the CPI secured eight.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP and CPI leader P Santosh Kumar said the LDF leadership should see a generational shift following the electoral setback. “We need new faces to lead the movement and the Opposition. We need a new Opposition leader, a new deputy Opposition leader,” he said, adding that while the CPM would choose the Opposition leader, the CPI could elect the deputy leader.

Accepting the defeat, Santosh Kumar said the LDF must focus on the future and that such decisions should emerge from discussions within the front.

He described the poll loss as “humiliating and embarrassing”, but maintained that the government’s performance had been better than reflected in the election results, echoing the earlier position taken by the CPI mouthpiece.

Following the results, the CPI mouthpiece Janayugam had said the defeat appeared to be a result of anti-incumbency after two consecutive terms in power. It also noted that while the government had made significant progress in welfare and people-centric development, the LDF needed to assess where it had fallen short and grown distant from the public.