Sabarimala and anti-government sentiments; CM says government will continue if there is unity

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The leaders of the Left Front openly said in a meeting that the Sabarimala gold loot case has been a setback for LDF in the local body elections.

The local body election review reports conducted by the parties were presented at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister. Leaders of parties including the CPI, Kerala Congress (M) and RJD opined that the Sabarimala issue was the reason for the election setback. Anti-incumbency sentiment was not identified. Overconfidence became a snag. The use of the gold theft case as a weapon by the opposition could not be stopped. It was also pointed out that Hindu votes favoured the UDF.

However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took the position that continued rule is assured if the front is united. He also justified the local body elections as a special situation. The Chief Minister was not ready to accept that Sabarimala was the main reason for the setback.

The leaders said that the expected progress in the assembly elections will not be possible if the shortcomings are not corrected. There will be crises in assembly elections as well if minorities are alienated. When the government takes decisions on policy issues, it should be discussed in the Left Front. It was also said that controversies could have been avoided if the PM SHRI project had been discussed in the front.

No difficulty in comeback

The criticism levelled against the CPM and the government in the CPI was not reflected in the front meeting. Binoy Viswam participated by softening his stance. The Chief Minister claimed that although the setback in the local body elections was not expected, there will be no difficulty in coming back. "There has been no major setback. We had to face a unique situation. The assembly elections are three months away." The Chief Minister said that LDF will be able to make progress in the elections if the LIFE project is completed effectively.