Thiruvananthapuram, June 8 (IANS) In an unusually candid post-mortem of its crushing electoral defeat, the Kerala unit of the CPI(M) has acknowledged a series of political miscalculations, while internal discussions across the party have also thrown the spotlight on deeper concerns over leadership style, functioning and organisational culture.

On Monday the state committee will discuss this Secretariat report.

A Secretariat report reviewing the election debacle admits that the party erred in not distancing itself from SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan and made a serious mistake in candidate selection in Thaliparamba.

The report also points to the controversy surrounding the reading of a message from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Ayyappa Sangamam, saying it diminished the significance of the event and hurt the party politically.

However, sources indicate that discussions held at various levels of the party went well beyond these specific issues.

Across area, district and state-level meetings, a recurring theme was that the defeat stemmed in large measure from the style and functioning of Pinarayi Vijayan and what many members described as an image of arrogance associated with the leadership.

The functioning of State Secretary M.V. Govindan also came in for criticism, with several members expressing dissatisfaction over the manner in which the party leadership engaged with cadres and the public.

Despite the criticism, the report states that the decision to appoint Pinarayi Vijayan as Leader of Opposition (LoP) was unanimous.

Party insiders, however, acknowledge that Vijayan continues to wield considerable influence within the powerful State Secretariat, a factor that helped secure his continuation in the top post despite calls for a wider leadership review.

Equally significant was the leadership’s success in warding off demands for a special state plenum to discuss the electoral defeat threadbare.

Such a plenum, many within the party felt, would inevitably have placed both Vijayan’s and Govindan’s roles under intense scrutiny and opened the door for a larger debate on accountability.

Instead, the party has opted for another round of discussions in lower committees and three months for implementing corrective measures, signalling reform, but not a leadership overhaul.

–IANS

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