Anti-Hindutva stand fuelled victory: CPM

Thiruvananthapuram: In a post-poll review, CPM central committee has identified the party’s strong anti-Hindutva stand and the entry of KC(M) into the LDF fold as the key factors that helped the Left front retain power in the assembly elections.
“The people appreciated the LDF government as being the bulwark of secularism and the communally-harmonious character of Kerala society. The firm stand of the LDF government against the Citizenship Amendment Act and other Hindutva measures of BJP-RSS increased support amongst the minorities and people at large,” it said. The report said the elections saw the unprecedented use of central agencies like ED and CBI to target the chief minister and the government in connection with the gold smuggling case, and the ‘patent’ falsehood in right wing media reports displeased the voters.
It, however, expressed concern over the fall in voting percentage. “Our voting percentage in 2021 is less than our voting percentage in 2006. We must seriously consider the reasons for this and to make efforts to expand our influence. We have to identify all factors that hinder our efforts to get more acceptability among people and take measures to find solutions. We have to attract ordinary people, who rallied behind UDF and BJP, towards us and try to increase our mass influence. Appropriate corrective steps are necessary in certain areas where we lag behind. It has to be noted that BJP has come in second place in nine constituencies. BJP is in second place for some time in the linguistic minority constituencies in Kasaragod. We have to pay more attention to the constituencies where BJP has reached second place,” the report said.
In the section that deals with organisational steps to be taken by the party state unit, the report said: “New sections, including middle class, are coming to the party in Muslim areas. Steps should be taken to recruit the best among them as party members and build Party in those areas. Also, attention should be given to recruiting more members from amongst the Christian community and increasing awareness of party members and units about the political-ideological design of the Hindutva forces.”
The central committee asked the state unit not to undermine the strength of Congress-led UDF. Despite the loss, UDF’s vote share has increased slightly compared to the 2016 assembly elections. It was 38.8% in 2016 and it is 39.4% now. Muslim League, with its big influence among the Muslim community, is giving strong support to UDF. The anti-communist media in Kerala is also backing UDF. UDF also commands considerable influence among the upper middle classes, the report noted.
The central committee cautioned the party state unit to take steps to check the saffron party’s growing influence in the state.