Party members, cadres can openly express views about poll debacle: CPI(M) gen secy

CPIM general secretary M A Baby on Thursday said that the party suffered an unexpected defeat in the Assembly polls and as part if its course correction measures, members and cadres will be allowed to express their views openly and emphatically.

CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby on Thursday said that the party suffered an unexpected defeat in the Assembly polls and as part if its course correction measures, members and cadres will be allowed to express their views ''openly and emphatically''. He told reporters in Delhi that meetings will be held at all levels of the party and the views of the members and cadres will be heard calmly and completely. Many senior party leaders, like G Sudhakaran, T K Govindan and V Kunhikrishnan, had left the CPI(M) fold alleging that no one was allowed to openly air their views about the leadership and their functioning. Such rebel leaders later contested against the party in the assembly polls with UDF backing and most of them won. Baby said that the intention behind holding such discussions was to identify and examine the party's shortcomings and failures and to take corrective steps, so that the CPI(M) can return stronger than before. He said that after the setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party had carried out an exercise to identitfy its shortcomings and rectify the same, however, the corrective measures undertaken did not prove successful. A similar exercise after the major setback in the 2025 local body elections also was not successful, and, therefore, it needs to be seen whether there are shortcomings in the steps being taken to identify the problems in the party and the corrective measures being undertaken. On the issue of who would be the Leader of Opposition, he said that no discussions have been held regarding that. ''It will be discussed at the requisite time and an appropriate decision would be taken,'' the CPI(M) general secretary said. The UDF won 102 out of the 140 seats in the Assembly polls, while the LDF got 35 seats and three were taken by the BJP.