Left has suffered severe setback: CPI-M

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Monday admitted that the Left had suffered "a severe setback" in the Lok Sabha battle and said the BJP's sweeping victory posed "big challenges ahead for the Indian people and our country".

Admitting that the BJP-led NDA had secured an overwhelming and decisive mandate in the elections, a CPI-M statement said: "The CPI-M and the Left have suffered a severe setback in these elections, particularly in their strongholds."

It said the electoral base of the CPI-M saw a big erosion and added that the politburo discussed some of the issues that led to this state of affairs.

"The BJP could successfully shift the popular narrative away from the multitude of livelihood issues that the last five years of the NDA government had imposed," the CPI-M said.

"The narrative built around communal nationalist jingoism, along with the issues of fighting terrorism, brushed aside all other issues of day-to-day concerns of the people.

"This was aided by the build-up of the Modi persona through a combination of factors. These included the effective use of technology and its instruments of messaging to the people backed by big data analytics and micro level social engineering.

"Sections of the media partnered such projection backed by massive money power. The role of the Election Commission was also a factor that permitted the build-up of such a narrative. This process was assisted by the vast network of RSS-affiliated organisations."

Only three CPI-M candidates were elected to the Lok Sabha: one from Kerala and two from Tamil Nadu.

The statement said that soon after the results were declared, reports of attacks on minorities

from Haryana and Madhya Pradesh had been reported.

"This is contrary to the PM-elect Narendra Modi's declaration that the new government will be

inclusive and will create confidence among all sections of the people...

"Clearly, there are big challenges ahead for the Indian people and our country."

--IANS

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