Overconfidence and Sabarimala issue backfired, CPM reveals reason for election defeat

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM State Secretary M.V. Govindan said that the Sabarimala issue and other issues led to the setback in the local body elections. The State Secretary added that overconfidence, organisational weakness and regional failures led to the unexpected defeat. He alleged that the Sabarimala issue was being used as a campaign issue by the opponents and that the Congress was taking over this.

Meanwhile, Govindan said that there will be no immediate action against M. Padmakumar, who was arrested in the Sabarimala gold robbery case. "We need to know if Padmakumar is involved in the case. CPM is not a party that takes action based on news. We will take a decision on this matter after the charge sheet in the case is submitted," M.V. Govindan said at a press conference.

"The LDF was generally confident that it would win the elections based on the government's actions, especially the cabinet decision of October 29. The organisational weakness in the urban areas also led to setbacks. Some lapses in activities at the local level also hindered the election activities in their respective areas. The UDF and the BJP carried out false propaganda on issues like Sabarimala. That effort did not succeed as they intended. The party has decided to evaluate the unexpected defeat with the right sense of direction and make good progress in the assembly elections," M.V. Govindan said.