Who did Pinarayi Vijayan censure for CPM's debacle? Voters in general or party comrades?

CPM State Secretary M V Govindan on Thursday saw nothing wrong in Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan blaming "voters" for the party's loss in the Assembly elections.

Nonetheless, Govindan hinted that Pinarayi's 'reprimand' was meant only for party comrades in Taliparambu and Payyannur where rebel CPM candidates staged spectacular upset wins.

"As part of condemning the traitorous behaviour of T K Govindan and V Kunhikrishnan, Comrade Pinarayi was also pointing out the failure of party workers to fully comprehend the betrayal of these two candidates," Govindan said about Pinarayi's remarks during a speech made at a meeting called to clarify the party's political stand at Taliparamba in Kannur on August 31.

He said that otherwise, Pinarayi's 'one-and-a-half'-hour Taliparamba speech had touched upon everything that was stated in the reports of the State and Central committees of the party. Here, Govindan skidded off the track of accuracy.

Pinarayi's deliberate silence
There was just one sentiment from these reports that Pinarayi repeated all through his speeches in Taliparamba and Payyannur. This was that lies were spread against the party by the Congress-led UDF. He called it the "avalanche of lies". The former Chief Minister also acknowledged that the party had suffered a debacle.

Apart from these, Pinarayi's speeches had skipped the rest of what these reports had said. Like the failure of the CPM's political project against communalism, for instance. Or the Pinarayi-centric election campaign. Or the lapses in candidate selection. Or the "perplexing" move to read out the message of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam. Or the weak responses to SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellapally Natesan's anti-Muslim vitriol. Or the thoughtless public utterances of leaders. Or even the lack of coordination between the party and the government.

Party sinners
Yet, it can be safely inferred that Govindan was right to say that Pinarayi was pointing fingers only at party loyalists and not voters in general.

In his Taliparamba speech, Pinarayi had made a clear distinction between party citadels like Payyannur and Taliparambu, and other constituencies.

"This time we had lost even in constituencies where we would have normally resisted the avalanche of lies that was unleashed against us. Taliparambu is one such place," he said. Pinarayi also differentiated between the "natural loss of votes" (in normal constituencies) and "the internal drift induced by CPM rebels" (in CPM strongholds).

"People who have always stood by the CPM thought differently this time. This should never have happened," Pinarayi said. Party comrades voting differently is the "wrong" that Pinarayi referred to.

"Only if you recognise a wrong will you be able to rectify it. These people (the loyalists) should earnestly introspect whether it was right to take an anti-party position," Pinarayi had said.

Interrogating Govindan
When probed, the State Secretary also adhered to Pinarayi's line. Do you mean to say that party workers who had voted against the party candidate were wrong, Govindan was asked. "Of course, they erred. They have to correct it," he said.

This begs a follow-up question. "Has the party's Central Committee report, too, faulted the voters?" Govindan managed to mask a surprise. "It is said in all our reports. You only have to read it more carefully," was his immediate response.

Fact is, the CC report merely states that "a section of our basic classes – workers, agricultural workers and poor peasants – did not vote for us in these elections". It does not blame them.

Perhaps a quick mind-scan of the CC report prompted Govindan to rephrase his remarks. "When we say they made a mistake it means that they had taken a position in favour of these class traitors. It was only stated that even party votes had gone against us in a constituency like Taliparambu. This is nothing new," he said.

Wasn't there a single reason for party workers to vote against party candidates, he was asked. The State Secretary now started to tie himself up in knots.

"The political explanation was given after understanding the reasons," he said, and added: The first half of the one-and-a-half hour speech was fully devoted to explain how they were misled."

(Again, factually incorrect. The first half of Pinarayi's speech was about the LDF government's achievements and the political headwinds it had to battle. Except for the signing of the PM-SHRI MoU, which was framed as a well-meaning move to secure central funds, there was no attempt to rationally defend himself or his government against any of the failings listed in the CC report.)

So the default poser was: "So, the voters were misled?". "Yes, they were misled," came the answer. But he made a quick but subtle correction. "Primarily, they were misled."

Do you mean to say that there were no other reasons to vote against the party candidates in these constituencies? This poser seemed to stump him. After a brief confused pause, he said: "In this case, I stand by what the Central and State committees had said."

The reports clearly say that there were lapses in candidate selection. Therefore, to declare that party workers were misled sounded like a self-righteous response of the Kerala leadership. "Don't party workers have the right to vote against such candidates that the party itself had identified as wrong choices," Govindan was asked.

This time the State Secretary had no doubts. "What right do party members have, " he said. "Party comrades do not normally exercise such a right. Pinarayi was just being critical of comrades who should have naturally voted for the party candidate," he said.

Govindan's surrender
So where does the fault lie? With the party or with the people? "Don't expect a direct answer from me," Govindan said.

"The party is without fault," the former school teacher was probed again. He observed silence, but smiling like a gentle teacher who enjoyed the banter of his students.

And then Govindan warmly conceded the point. "We have identified innumerable reasons for our loss, and all these have been publicly stated by both the State Committee and the Central Committee of the party. And all these documents are with you," he said, and added: "In our own way, we are undertaking a rectification process."