The CPI(M) leadership’s bid to elicit public response in the wake of the reversals suffered in the Lok Sabha election is being elucidated as a first major step for a course correction, dispel the doubtful perceptions about the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) stance on the Sabarimala issue and wrest the lost ground among the faithful.
Starting from State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a battery of leaders and core party activists who have embarked on an outreach programme to test the public sentiment are understood to have received a tepid response, mainly from women folk and that was mainly on account of the State government’s stance on women’s entry to Sabarimala.
Those visiting the households turn patient listeners than raising queries and the thrust of such visits is on clearing the air, correcting the wrong notions professed by different sections on the verdict and also the government’s stance.
Party sources told The Hindu that a majority of the faithful were confused about the government’s decision to implement the verdict and some others felt that its execution could have been deferred on the grounds that the State was recovering from the damage wreaked by the flood.
Some of the leaders were astonished to learn that many were unaware of the Supreme Court verdict and had construed the entry of women as an arbitrary move of the State government and that the LDF was opposed to the faithful. They were also oblivious of the constitutional responsibility of the State government in abiding by the verdict and also the directions from the Centre to execute it.
The high-voltage campaign launched by the Sangh Parivar organisations too played a significant role in forging opinion against the front to a considerable extent. But the big win the United Democratic Front (UDF) gained on the basis of the swing in minority votes to keep the BJP out of power at the Centre seems to be transient.
The same voting pattern is unlikely to be replicated in the local body and Assembly byelections that are in the offing. The decision to interact with different sections has helped to clear the air and apprise them of the party’s position on various issues. This would help the LDF to regain its lost ground, sources said.
The district committees of the CPI(M) would prepare reports based on the outreach programme with different sections and would eventually lead the State leadership to chart out policy corrections to bring back the flock that had gone astray, sources said.