Nearly three months after the assembly elections in Kerala, the CPM and CPI, two major partners of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), have contradictory views on the role played by the Kerala Congress (M) in the alliance's impressive performance in Kottayam district. 

The assessment of the CPM district secretariat, that met last week, was that the entry of the Kerala Congress (M) helped LDF make huge gains in Kottayam. But the CPI district executive that met on Friday is of the view that the gains made in the district cannot be attributed just to the Jose K Mani-led party.

During the meet, it was also opined that handing over the Kanjirappally seat, where the party had been contesting for years, to the Kerala Congress (M) was a setback for the CPI's growth in the district. Criticisms were also raised against the state leadership which took the initiative for ceding the seat. In this scenario, the CPI district council will be convened in the presence of state secretary Kanam Rajendran to discuss the poll results.

Public sentiment against Jose K Mani

The meet evaluated that the entry of the Kerala Congress (M) to the LDF was not the reason for the success in the district. If that had been the case, then the front should have secured victories in the party’s stronghold areas of Pala and Kaduthuruthy.

The poll success was due to the development measures of the LDF government. The CPI assessed that Jose K Mani failed in Pala seat as the public sentiment was not in favour of him. 

The decision of the CPI state leadership to give up the Kanjirappally seat was flawed. In the local body polls, the CPI and the Kerala Congress (M) got equal consideration in the district. But this was not followed during the Assembly polls. The meet assessed that the CPI contesting in just one seat, while the Kerala Congress (M) contested in five seats would prove to be a political setback.