The Politburo of the Communist Party of India, the party’s highest decision-making body, began its two-day meeting on Sunday in Delhi to examine its defeats in the last round of Assembly elections, especially in Kerala and West Bengal.
In Kerala, while the ruling Left Democratic Front was able to win only 35 of the state’s 140 seats, in Bengal the party won only one of the 294 seats the coalition contested.
The meeting will also decide whether outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will take over as Leader of the Opposition.
When reporters asked Vijayan, on his way to a politburo meeting in Delhi, whether he would take over as party chief, he replied: “Ask the general secretary.”
The party reportedly held extensive discussions on the reasons for the defeat in Kerala and the erosion of its vote bank, especially among minorities. While the Congress-led United Democratic Front won 102 seats, the BJP won three, its best performance in terms of Assembly seats in the state.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) unit in Kerala also announced that it will conduct a comprehensive review, from the branch to the district level, in May and June, as part of which it will hear party leaders and workers air their grievances.
The CPI reiterates the demand for the position of Deputy LoP
Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (CPI) State Secretary Benoy Viswam reiterated that the party wants a Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, a claim the CPI(M) unofficially described as “technically not possible”.
“The Communist Party of Iran has the right to hold the position of deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly,” he said after the party’s National Council meeting in Delhi. CPI is the second largest partner within the LDF with 8 seats.
Viswam on Sunday also said that the outgoing LDF government failed to properly handle the ASHA workers’ protest in Kerala.
The Kerala Health Workers Association ASHA (KAHWA) had staged a 265-day protest last year, demanding an increase in their fees to $21,000 and to be given $5 thousand pounds in post-retirement allowances, demands that were not accepted by the Liberal Democratic Party government.
“The Left government should have taken a different approach in dealing with protests like those by ASHA workers. It should not have behaved like a right-wing government. The Left government should not have respected workers’ protests or looked down upon them. But that is what happened,” Viswam said.
Viswam said the electoral defeat was a warning that communist organizations must give priority to the people.
