Loss in Thiruvananthapuram corporation sparks debate within CPM
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of the LDFs humiliating defeat in the city corporation, in-fighting began within the district CPM. Taking a cue from the rough exchanges between senior leaders within the partys district committee, a young leader too came out against the outgoing council led by Mayor Arya Rajendran. City councils outgoing standing committee chairperson Gayathri Babu took a dig at Arya through a Facebook post. Stating that the corporation used to hold the Left front close during testing times, she wrote that the previous mayors and their teams could boldly walk to any corner of the corporation and maintain the life-bond with the voters. Instead of having a larger-than-party attitude, disdainful behaviour to those in the lower rungs of power, over-humility before those in the higher echelons of power, and turning ones office into a caucus for their career building, moves should have been done to engage with people who waited outside the room, considerate to the demands raised by local leaders, and develop a good team within the council, which would have at least given a setback with a lower magnitude than this, Gayathri said in the post, which she took down in an hour. Citing the LDF lead in other local bodies, she noted that nothing has fallen short from the side of the partys ground work. On the other hand, the seats in which the party won were due to the personal bonds candidates shared with the voters, she added. Meanwhile, the CPM leadership rejected the young leaders open criticism. We do not agree with such posts. What should be told within the party should be said here, and what should be told to the public must be done so, said state secretary M V Govindan. S P Deepak (LDF), Petta ward winner, meeting V V Rajesh (NDA), Venganoor ward winner. The day after the first phase of elections, leaders V Joy and Karamana Hari had a face-off in the district committee meeting, held in the presence of Govindan. Ex-minister Kadakampally Surendran too faced allegations of favouritism in candidate selection. Comments about Aryas immature behaviour, critical lapses found by the audit report, the social media debates surrounding the credibility of the international recognition won by the corporation issues for backlashes were plenty for the CPM-led council. The worst part of CPMs backfire was the clear lead BJP gained in the corporation and not a triangular fight LDF getting reduced to 29 seats from 51, and BJP rising to 50 from 34 was an unprecedented result. What appeared to be one of the boldest experiments fielding one of its youngest councillors as the mayor of a key corporation backfired for the left front. Negative public image around Arya Rajendran, including the issue with the KSRTC driver in the middle of a road in the capital city, was accelerated by BJPs campaign. To drive away the Kid-Mayor and her kin... was one of the key announcements of the BJP Many of the campaign tools of CPM failed miserably, including its eagerness to focus on the suicides of two BJP leaders. The saffron party registered an authentic win of 886 votes in Thirumala ward, where the previous BJP councillor died by suicide after blaming the party. In the Thrikkannapuram ward, where a young leader committed suicide after being denied a seat, CPM managed to win purely based on the personal bonds of the candidate.
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