Kerala poll defeat a collective responsibility, not Pinarayi’s alone: MA Baby

The CPM on Monday said the defeat of the Left Democratic Front in the Kerala Assembly elections was a collective responsibility of the party leadership and not of any single leader. Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the two-day Politburo meeting in Delhi, CPM general secretary M A Baby said the party would undertake corrective measures and conduct a detailed review of the electoral setback.

Responding to a question on whether senior CPM leader Pinarayi Vijayan had expressed willingness to step down from party positions by taking moral responsibility for the defeat, Baby said the CPM functions as a collective entity. “Pinarayi Vijayan is the senior-most leader in terms of age and experience. He is the senior-most member of the Politburo and the Central Committee, and therefore holds the leadership position. During polls, we said he was leading the election campaign. If we secured a majority, we would decide at that time who would become chief minister,” Baby said.

However, the LDF’s campaign style during the polls came under sharp criticism from party sympathisers who argued that it was centred entirely around Pinarayi Vijayan. They also slammed what they described as a growing “personality cult” around Pinarayi Vijayan, pointing to campaign billboards and publicity material dominated solely by his image. 

“Hence, there is no single comrade to take responsibility. The party will undergo self-scrutiny and take corrective steps,” he added. Baby said the party had taken corrective measures after every electoral setback, but admitted that the earlier steps had not been sufficient. “This time we will go further. All committees will meet and we will also listen to our sympathisers,” he said.

He added that meetings of the state secretariat and state committee would be held in the coming days, while the party leadership would meet again in the first week of June to further discuss the situation.

Referring to the election outcome in Kerala, Baby said the defeat of the LDF had come as a shock to the state despite what he described as the “commendable work” carried out by the LDF government over the last 10 years. He also alleged that the Union government had tried to “financially strangulate” Kerala during the LDF’s tenure.

“The defeat shocked Kerala. We have not yet measured the extent of failure in each constituency, but it was clearly a major setback. The state secretariat and state committee meetings will inspect these issues in detail,” he said.

Baby also described the BJP winning three seats in Kerala as a disturbing development, adding that the LDF had finished second in those constituencies. The CPM central committee will meet in Delhi from May 22 to 24 to conduct an in-depth analysis of the setback suffered by the party in Kerala.

On the selection of the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Baby said the issue was not discussed by the Politburo. “Discussions are ongoing and a suitable decision will be taken based on various factors,” he said.