CPM defeat in Thaliparamba due to 11 per cent vote share decline: Vijayan

CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused independent MLA T K Govindan of betraying the party and contributing to its defeat in Thaliparamba. Govindan hit back, accusing the CPM leadership of pursuing selfish interests and destroying the party

Kannur: Leader of Opposition in the Keralam Assembly Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused independent MLA T K Govindan of betraying the CPM and contributing to its defeat in Thaliparamba. Vijayan was addressing a rally organised by the CPM in Thaliparamba to explain the party’s stand following its defeat in the constituency.

Govindan, a former CPM leader, had left the party following differences over the decision to field CPM state secretary M V Govindan’s wife as its candidate in Thaliparamba. He later contested as an independent with the support of the UDF and emerged victorious in the constituency, considered a CPM stronghold.

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Vijayan said the LDF’s vote share had declined by more than 11 per cent compared to the previous election, leading to its defeat. “The reason for our defeat is that we lost more than 11 per cent of the votes compared to the votes we received in 2021. This is what led to the defeat,” he said.

Vijayan said the candidacy of T K Govindan, whom he accused of taking a stand that amounted to betraying the party, had resulted in some votes shifting away from the LDF. “The opponent who contested here was T K Govindan, who became a candidate by taking a stand of betraying the party. When T K Govindan came as a candidate, it can be seen that following that candidacy, a few votes were lost from the LDF,” he said. He said it was unfortunate that some people who had supported the CPM at various stages had taken a different stand in the election.

“The fact that a lot of people who stood with the CPM at all stages thought differently at this stage was something that should not have happened. Only if a mistake is recognised as a mistake can it be corrected. Those who took such a stance should conduct proper introspection regarding that matter,” Vijayan said.

Addressing a meeting, T K Govindan alleged that the CPM leadership was destroying the party in pursuit of its own interests. “The leadership is destroying this party for your own selfish interests. To you, the party is not what matters most; your other spin-off deals are what matter to you. Those need to be protected. That is why you are destroying the party,” he said. Govindan questioned whether the party leadership was impartially examining the reasons for the CPM’s decline.

“However, are you impartially examining why the party has fallen into such a state? If you attack Kunhikrishnan and me, will this party be saved?” he asked. V Kunhikrishnan is also a former CPM leader who successfully contested the election from the CPM stronghold of Payyanur as an Independent candidate with the support of the UDF. Referring to the killing of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T P Chandrasekharan, who was allegedly hacked to death by CPM activists in 2012, Govindan questioned whether his elimination had strengthened the party.

Chandrasekharan was a CPM leader who later formed the RMP after leaving the party. “If that were the case, didn’t you eliminate T P Chandrasekharan? Did the party get saved after eliminating Comrade Chandrasekharan?” he asked.