CPM Parassala area committee criticizes Pinarayi Vijayan, M V Govindan over assembly poll debacle

Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the CPM leadership rejected the reports about criticism against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary M V Govindan in the post-election party committee meetings, area committees continues to witness harsh criticism against both the functionaries for the huge setback the party suffered in the assembly election.

CPM is holding discussions in the lower-level party committees, giving opportunities to party workers to freely express their opinion as part of analyzing the reasons that led to the debacle in the election. Interestingly, the criticism against Vijayan and Govindan are also coming from those who celebrated Vijayan as the invincible leader and lucky mascot of the CPM. Parassala area committee which kicked off a controversy earlier by organizing a mega thiruvathira only to hail Vijayan, has now changed its stand. The area committee secretary, S Ajayakumar, is said to have even questioned Vijayan’s eligibility to become the opposition leader. Ajayakumar was the chairman of the organizing committee that conducted the controversial mega thiruvathira, which Vijayan himself supported.

Govindan is also facing harsh criticism in the party committee meeting, especially over his communication style. One of the major criticisms in the area committee meetings is that the party state leadership failed to control and guide the second Pinarayi Vijayan govt. After Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the state secretaries failed in carrying out their political responsibilities, effectively, it has been said.

The committees also witness criticism against not disowning the ‘anti-Muslim’ remarks of SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan. Former minister V N Vasavan, who attended the Kilimanoor area committee meeting, has reportedly told the meeting that the anti-Muslim statements of Natesan should have been opposed forcefully by the party.