BJP is not the sole reason; party discovered chief cause for the defeat of its lone minister

KOLLAM: Despite securing a second consecutive term, the defeat of Mercykutty Amma from Kundara and M Swaraj from Trippunithura has lost the sheen of LDF’s iconic victory in the assembly polls. Among the duo, the defeat of minister Mercykutty Amma was a severe blow for CPM. Because she was the lone minister who lost the assembly polls. Therefore the party has decided to study in details the reasons for her loss.

The party workers were under the impression that transferring BJP votes to the UDF candidate was the reason for Mercykutty Amma’s defeat. The party workers also hold the view that the EMCC controversy and the allegations raised against her which surfaced just days before the polls proved detrimental in Mercykutty Amma’s poll performance. But the latest study report of the party says that a mass transfer of votes had happened from the own vote banks on the party in the Kundara constituency. The leaders in the lower rung of the party are puzzled over what justification is to be given to the party’s higher units over the leakage of votes from the left’s traditional vote banks.

When other ministers of the party earned a comfortable victory, Mercykutty Amma was the only minister who got defeated. Therefore for the party, it is a serious issue. The report also said that NSS has taken a stand against the LDF candidate from the beginning itself in Kundara. The report evaluated that many factors which were considered insignificant by the party proved to be detrimental in Kundara during the polling.

In 2016, when all constituencies in Kollam district turned red, this time the left front has lost two constituencies, namely—Kundara and Karunagapally.