As the Communist Party of India (Marxist) gears up for a major initiative to retrieve its lost ground in the wake of the Lok Sabha poll reversal, herding the drifted flock back into party fold will be a tall order for the State leadership.
The State committee, which was in session here for two days, has charted out a course of action to reach out to its vote base and fellow travellers and elicit their views within a time frame, well before the State switches into poll mode for the six Assembly byelections and also the local body elections, just a year away.
The party leaders and elected representatives who have been tasked to interact with different sections and also hold house visits and address family get-togethers will have to do considerable explaining to convince them of the constitutional responsibility that compelled the government to implement the verdict on Sabarimala and also expose the game plan of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the United Democratic Front to deftly reap political mileage from the issue.
Private Bill
The private Bill for conserving the custom and tradition of Sabarimala piloted by N.K. Premachandran in the Lok Sabha and the permission sought by the UDF for moving a similar Bill in the Assembly have made the task much more difficult for the party. Attempts of the BJP and the UDF to politicise the Sabarimala issue have been bared but winning the confidence of those who at least transiently strayed to the rival camps will not be easy. The leaders will have to conclusively prove that the Bill is nothing but political posturing and does not mean anything above that.
The organisational review had earlier recorded a 5% erosion in its captive vote base, the majority of them women. The family get-togethers are expected to reach out to such sections and overcome the trust deficit through a personal interaction and also gauge their responses and suggestions on policy matters.
The sexual harassment charges levelled against Binoy Kodiyeri and also the row over the death of an NRI investor in Anthoor municipality also call for a explanation from the leadership.
Whether these efforts will bear fruit could be judged only by the bypoll outcome in the short term and the local body poll results in the long run.