Satheesan Accuses CPI(M) of Scapegoating Govindan for LDF Poll Defeat
Kerala CM V.D. Satheesan says CPI(M) scapegoated State secretary M.V. Govindan for the LDF's Assembly poll debacle instead of owning collective failure.
Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has accused the Communist Party of India (Marxist) of making its State secretary, M.V. Govindan, a scapegoat for the Left Democratic Front's Assembly election debacle, while shielding its top leadership from accountability.
Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mr Satheesan said the party's extended State committee, which wrapped up in Kozhikode a day earlier, appeared to deny the actual causes of what he described as a historic defeat. In his reading, the exercise was aimed at insulating the apex leadership from blame and pinning censure on individuals, rather than acknowledging a collective leadership failure and a widening disconnect with the people, including the party's own rank and file.
The Chief Minister said the CPI(M)'s core support base had eroded and that it had lost its strongholds to the Congress-led United Democratic Front. He added that the party had drawn no lessons from its much-publicised organisational introspection, self-criticism and rectification drive — a development he said worked to the UDF's advantage.
His remarks followed media reports that the extended State committee had censured Mr Govindan over alleged flaws in candidate selection and the handling of organisational and political matters. The party has reportedly asked him to continue as State secretary and to lead the internal course-correction process.
CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby maintained on Wednesday that the rectification effort was collective rather than individual-based, and said the extended State committee had emphasised collective leadership and responsibility. Pinarayi Vijayan, a Polit Bureau member and Leader of the Opposition, said the meeting and the large public rally that followed had lent the party fresh momentum.
The State committee also resolved to oppose what it termed the pro-corporate, anti-people and Hindu majoritarian nationalist agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre. It further resolved to oppose the UDF government's neo-liberal economic policies, which it said prioritise market forces over building social capital through housing, better schools and hospitals, and an expanded social security net.