CPI-M politburo member Prakash Karat has warned the Kerala unit that if lessons are not learned from the debacle in Tripura and Bengal, the party will collapse beyond recovery.
“We must understand the reason behind the progress made by the BJP in the CPI-M strongholds without doing anything in particular,” Prakash Karat said .
Speaking at the first regional meeting in Kerala after the Central Committee Committee meeting which evaluated the party’s Lok Sabha election performance in the state, Prakash Karat said the party should make efforts to keep the basic groups together. Weaknesses should be understood and corrected, he said.
Presenting the report of the state committee, State secretary MV Govindan said that it is not enough to correct the mistake, people should also be convinced of it. He pointed out that the lessons of Bengal and Tripura should be learned.
Every comrade should be ready for correction. Leaders should not become centres of power themselves, Govindan said.
On evaluating the recent Lok Sabha poll results in the state, the CPI-M in Kerala has found that the basic left votes were drifted away from the party and a large chunk of these votes were gone in the kitty of the BJP.
In the review report approved by the CPI-M state committee, it has reportedly been stated that the basic votes of the party have substantially gone to the BJP .In places where BJP has no influence, the CPI-M votes have gone to the BJP.
Even without campaigning on the part of the saffron party, the left’s basic votes had gone to the BJP, the review report reportedly says . The increase in the Vote share of the BJP in party strongholds and party villages is a matter that is worrisome for the CPI-M in Kerala.
In such a situation, the CPI-M state committee has given direction to the lower committees to give priority to take steps to arrest the growth of the BJP in party strongholds and other places.