Embarrassed by the outcome of the Assembly polls, the top leadership of the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) has pinned the blame on the local cadres of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI-M] for the defeat of its candidates in Kalpetta and Vadakara Assembly segments.
Apart from many factors that led to the loss of these two sitting seats of the Left Democratic Front, a senior functionary of the party said that the local CPI(M) workers had been dispirited by the candidacies of State president M.V. Shreyams Kumar and Kozhikode district president Manayath Chandran in Kalpetta and Vadakara respectively. Both had unsuccessfully contested from these constituencies as Janata Dal (United) nominees in the Congress-led United Democratic Front camp the last time.
At the same time, former Minister K.P. Mohanan secured a victory margin of 9,541 votes in the Koothuparamba segment. He had lost the segment to Health Minister K.K. Shailaja by a margin of 12,291 votes in the 2016 Assembly polls. Interestingly, the margins of victory of CPI(M) nominee C. K. Saseendran and Janata Dal (Secular) leader C.K. Nanu in Kalpetta and Vadakara in the previous elections were 13,083 and 9,511 respectively.
Sensing the disapproving ambience in Vadakara, where the Congress-led coalition had backed Revolutionary Marxist Party of India candidate K.K.Rema, the CPI(M) district unit had managed to rope in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to make his presence felt at the fag end of the public campaign. But the onslaughts were of little avail with Ms. Rema surviving the electioneering blitzkrieg. The candidature of a determined Rema, unlike last time, had in fact lifted the mood of the electorate.
Besides, sources said that CPI(M) local leaders in Vadakara had expressed a gloomy outlook on the winnability of Mr. Chandran after some of his pre-poll statements in his attempt to contest again in Vadakara had driven the JD(S) up the wall.
In Kalpetta, a Muslim consolidation in favour of the Congress candidate T. Siddique led to the defeat of Mr. Shreyams Kumar, who had won from Kalpetta in the 2006 and 2011 Assembly elections. Demographically, 30% of the electorate belongs to the Muslim community. Significantly, this was also the first time a Muslim candidate emerged victorious from the constituency, the sources said.
But many believe that more than the alleged betrayal of CPI(M) local cadres, the defeat of the LJD could also be attributed to the political entity switching coalition loyalties every so often.
