The CPI(M) State committee reportedly on Friday wrestled with finalising candidates for 15 Lok Sabha seats to hit the ground running as the drum beats of the parliamentary polls drew closer each day.
The party’s meeting, cloaked in cult-like secrecy as usual, reportedly focussed on striking the optimal political calculus to turn the Lok Sabha segments it covets into red-wall constituencies.
The CPI(M) also seemed determined not to leave any stone unturned to erase the ignominy of winning only in Alappuzha in the 2019 parliamentary elections. The party machinery remained revved after the NavKerala Sadas campaign.
The meeting reportedly weighed religion, caste, economic and age demographics peculiar to individual constituencies to zero in on candidates with a winning chance.
By some accounts, the CPI(M) appeared fixed on fielding high-profile leaders with a proven electoral track record and popular appeal to give a tough fight to the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A Left Democratic Front (LDF) insider said the CPI(M) had several sharp arrows in its quiver to score bullseyes at the hustings.
He claimed the names heard on the grapevine included Dr. Thomas Isaac, A.K. Balan, A. Vijayaraghavan, P.K. Sreemathi, K.K. Shailaja, Kadakampally Surendran, V. Joy, M. Swaraj and T.V. Rajesh, among others.
The CPI(M) might also experiment with incumbent MLAs and, perhaps, field a few” surprise entrants”.
The party has reportedly asked its district committees to meet on February 20 and 21 as part of the organisational process to finalise candidates.
Meanwhile, the Congress and BJP readied to wage a tooth-and-claw battle against CPI(M) ‘s robust bid to transform Kerala’s electoral map to the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) advantage.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and BJP State president K. Surendran indicated, separately, that the current SFIO investigation against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter and IT consultant, T. Veena, will shape the campaign narrative along with livelihood and development issues.
However, the CPI(M) exuded a sense of deja vu, given that it defeated a comparably “vituperative campaign” in the 2021 Lok Sabha polls.
Last week, Mr. Govindan had predicted that bitter and abusive campaigns to blight the party and government were in the offing as the Lok Sabha polls approached. He said the CPI(M) would defeat them in the people’s court as in the past.
