Take objective look at poll debacle: Karat to Kerala CPI(M)

CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat has asked the party's Kerala unit to take an objective look at Lok Sabha poll debacle and suggested state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan to amend his report which sought to put the blame on Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan.     

Karat made this suggestion at the two-day CPI(M) state secretariat session, held to review the party's poll defeat, which concluded last evening, party sources said.     

He suggested that the party should strive to make an objective and unbiased look at the factors that made CPI(M)-led LDF's tally in Kerala in the just-concluded general polls to shrink to four from 18 in 2004.     

In his review report to the secretariat, Vijayan had said that Achuthanandan's reluctance to toe the party line in letter and spirit on issues like SNC Lavalin corruption case, in which he (Vijayan) was sought to be arraigned as an accused by CBI, and tactical tie-up with Abdul Nasser Madani's PDP had cost the party dearly.

The views of Karat, who was present at the secretariat meet, also converged with the opinion that alienation of JD(S) and alliance with PDP were among the factors that dimmed the LDF's prospects.     

Even as they continue to target Achuthanandan, the Vijayan camp this time round has come down from its earlier aggressive position that he should quit if he could not carry out the party line in letter and spirit.     

The central leadership's position is that if the responsibility is fixed on senior leaders it should be done at the Politburo or Central Committee level sparing the state party forums as venues for personal or factional showdown, CPI(M) sources said.