CPM Leader Admits Arrogance Took Root During Decade-Long Rule

KOCHI/ T’PURAM : In a rare acknowledgement of the party’s internal shortcomings, CPM central committee member T M Thomas Isaac has admitted that a decade in power had allowed arrogance to take root within the party, leaving it disconnected from public sentiment. In an audio clip aired by Malayalam media outlets, Isaac said candidates should have been selected with due regard to the prevailing mood among the electorate. He also admitted that the CPM had failed to properly interpret the statements made at the Ayyappa Sangamam. The audio clip, however, has not gone down well with a section of the state leadership, which felt it was an attempt to create an impression of division within the party. “Wasn’t he too associated with the decade-long LDF rule? Has he only now realised that party leaders have become arrogant? He was part of the government for the first five years. Even those who were part of the government in the second half are making such statements. These are nothing but lamentations over the loss of positions. Most of the cadre have accepted the loss of power, but some leaders are yet to come to terms with being out of power,” said a senior CPM leader, who also alleged there was a deliberate attempt to point fingers at the leadership, particularly Pinarayi Vijayan. Isaac, a former finance minister, was apparently addressing party members at the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Pallikkunnu West Local Committee office in Alappuzha. He listed the reasons for the electoral setback one by one, identifying corruption in cooperative banks as a major factor. “Corruption in cooperative banks turned out to be a major blow in the election. Alongside this, the public believed the opposition’s campaign alleging a ‘BJP-CPM deal’. Certain statements made from our side inadvertently aided that narrative,” Isaac said.