CPI(M) feels confident to face local body polls

State committee of the party feels livelihood issues guide the electorate

A crucial meeting of the State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) here on Saturday felt the attempts by the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to vilify the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government would not dent the electoral prospects of the ruling front in the local body elections in December.

CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who chaired the committee, said the political climate at both the State and Centre was conducive to an LDF win.

Kerala was the nucleus of the groundswell of opposition against the pro-corporate and anti-labour policies pursued by the Centre.

The State was also the heartland of the secular campaign against the patently anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) law.

The new education policy had galvanised teachers and students against the Centre.

At the provincial level, the LDF government had made a qualitative difference in the lives of the people. It had insulated the population against the worst ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government had rushed free rations to all, provided health care and activated online learning.

Sordid and salacious scandals unleashed selectively by Central agencies against the government and its political leadership at the instance of the BJP would not sway voters.

Realities of life and livelihood issues guide the electorate. Transitory scandals might dominate news but would have no impact on the choice of the people, the CPI(M) felt.

The LDF has kept its covenant with the people. It has accelerated development without forsaking social welfare. The electorate would give the LDF a second mandate to rule.

The committee also rallied behind Mr. Balakrishnan and rejected calls for his resignation. Mr. Balakrishnan’s son Bineesh Kodiyeri did not represent the party or government.

The CPI(M) was not responsible for Bineesh’s conduct as a private individual. His arrest and questioning by Enforcement Directorate was a personal matter and not a political issue. Mr. Balakrishnan had distanced the party and himself from the case. He told the committee that the party’s interests prevailed over all else.

However, the CPI(M) felt strongly about the ED’s alleged harassment of Mr. Bineesh’s family and his two-year-old child. The party backed the family’s right to seek legal recourse in the matter.

The CPI(M) also felt that Congress was in dangerous company. By aligning with Islamist forces, the party had opened the door for the RSS to promote its Hindu majoritarian politics of resentment in Kerala. By parroting the BJP, the Congress has become the Sangh Parivar’s vassals in Kerala.

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