Payyannur defeat: CPM does not lie, people should correct mistakes and return to strengthen the party, says Pinarayi

Kannur: CPM leader and Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has appealed to those who deserted the CPM in the recent Assembly election to “correct that mistake” and return to the party, attributing the setback in its stronghold of Payyannur largely to people being misled by party whistleblower and MLA V Kunhikrishnan.

Vijayan, the most senior Politburo member of the CPM, was speaking at a political explanatory meeting organised by the party in Payyannur on Saturday. Vijayan, who led the LDF government for a decade before it was voted out in the April 2026 Assembly election, did not refer to any organisational or leadership failures as a reason for the defeat. Instead, he said those who had moved away from the party were not necessarily opposed to it and had been caught in a “trap”.

“On behalf of the party, I appeal to everyone who has moved away to correct that mistake as quickly as possible and return as protectors of the party,” Vijayan said.

He claimed that people who had traditionally supported the CPM had been misled by a campaign mounted against the party. “They have been caught in this trap. They have been misled,” he said.

The appeal came nearly four months after the CPM-led LDF suffered a decisive defeat in Kerala, including the loss of Payyannur, one of its most entrenched strongholds.

Kunhikrishnan, a former member of the CPM's Kannur district committee, contested Payyannur as a UDF-backed independent, building his campaign around allegations of financial irregularities against the incumbent MLA, T I Madhusoodanan. His principal allegation was that funds collected for the family of slain CPM worker C V Dhanraj (38), as well as election funds and money raised for the construction of the party office, had been misappropriated by Madhusoodanan.

But the party ignored his allegations and fielded Madhusoodanan again in Payyannur, forcing Kunhikrishnan to contest as an independent candidate.

His campaign effectively turned the election into a referendum on the functioning of the CPM leadership.

If Kunhikrishnan had hoped that his victory in Payyannur would trigger introspection within the party and correction among the leadership, there was little sign of such an acknowledgement in Vijayan's speech.

'Kunhikrishnan, the enemies' axe’
Vijayan blamed Kunhikrishnan for creating doubts among the public by challenging the party's version of events.

He accused the former party leader of working from within the organisation to weaken it and establish links with its political opponents.

“Kunhikrishnan has become the axe in the hands of the party's enemies,” Vijayan said.

The CPM veteran said that the party had always been willing to correct its mistakes and take action against those who violated its standards. “The party's scrutiny is precise. If a mistake is identified as part of that scrutiny, the necessary decisions will be taken against whoever is responsible."

But as far as Payyannur is concerned, Vijayan said: "A great deal of information has emerged publicly against the party. These are matters that the party examined and clarified".

"But Kunhikrishnan acted with the intention of destroying the party and came forward saying that the things stated by the party are not true. He has been contacting people and giving them information. He has been sharing information with the party's enemies. When this happened, some doubts arose among the public. These doubts arose because a person from the party leadership itself had taken such a position."

Vijayan then put his own credibility and that of the party on the line, insisting that the CPM would never mislead the public. “This is where I must repeatedly make one thing clear: at no point will the Communist Party, the CPM, mislead the people. It will never adopt a deceptive position before the public. The party will present only facts and reality before the people.”

Vijayan did not identify candidate selection, failures of the local leadership or organisational arrogance as factors behind the Payyannur defeat. This is significant given that CPM leaders, particularly state secretary M V Govindan and Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh, faced a barrage of criticism from party cadres on social media after the defeat, with much of it centred on these very issues.

The party's internal discussions from the booth level to the state committee also threw up these shortcomings and failures.

At the state level, the party had also listed leadership failures, corruption allegations, damage to the party's image and the excessive projection of Vijayan during the election campaign among the factors that contributed to the defeat.

None of these issues found a place in Vijayan's Payyannur explanation of the defeat.

‘Payyannur should not have lost’
Vijayan acknowledged that Payyannur was a constituency the LDF should not have lost. He pointed out that the CPM had won every Assembly election in the constituency since its formation, with the party's candidates securing more than 50% vote share. Madhusoodanan got over 62% vote share, the highest in 2021 Kerala elections.

Vijayan said the constituency was capable of withstanding electoral waves. Yet the LDF lost the seat in 2026, with Kunhikrishnan defeating Madhusoodanan by 7,487 votes. Vijayan said the defeat should not be viewed merely as the loss of an individual candidate but as a temporary victory for forces seeking to weaken the CPM and the LDF.

According to him, the BJP led by the RSS and the Congress-led UDF had worked, in different ways, against the CPM, while some individuals within the party had also aided its opponents.

He said a section of traditional CPM voters had temporarily moved away from the party after being misled. “They are not people who are against the party. They are not people who want the party to be destroyed,” Vijayan said, arguing that some may have been carried away by a temporary emotion.

The CPM has begun a series of political explanatory meetings in Payyannur and Taliparamba on August 29, 30 and 31, with Vijayan spearheading the campaign. To be sure, Madhusoodanan anchored the event at Payyannur.