The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has applauded Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government’s stand on the Sabarimala issue in spite of its near obliteration in the Lok Sabha poll in the State, where the party managed to win only one of the 20 seats.
The three-day meeting of the Central Committee was held to dissect the party’s worst ever Lok Sabha poll performance. Sources said no one within the party had been held responsible and no heads would roll for now.
“The Central Committee has applauded the party’s stand on the Sabarimala controversy and concluded that the Kerala government was right in implementing the Supreme Court verdict allowing entry of women to the Sabarimala shrine, against the popular sentiment,” one of the CC members told The Hindu.
Though the party conceded that it failed to counter the propaganda of both the Congress and the BJP on the issue in time, which meant that a large chunk of Hindu votes that traditionally the party got stayed away. “A serious course correction is required which means that the party will have to have a mass outreach programme to speak to the devotees to clear the air on party’s stand on the issue,” another member from Kerala said.