Kollam: "The LDF's defeat is a punishment given by the voters to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for his arrogance and audacity,"according to UDF candidate N.K. Premachandran who has been elected from Kollam. Coming down heavily on Mr Vijayan, he said it was the anti-Pinarayi sentiment that reflected in the elections.
"Pinarayi Vijayan is destroying the Left front. He thinks that anything could be done using his party, wealth and power. The CPM politburo should think whether such governance is required in Kerala," Mr. Premachandran told reporters.
Criticising the listing of masala bond in the London stock exchange, he said Mr. Vijayan had become an agent of capitalism. "Pinarayi is implementing neo-liberal policies that even the BJP will reject," he added.
The CPM's plight will worsen if the central leadership does not intervene. "The CPM's curse is that it works only according to the whims of Pinarayi. The leaders are afraid to raise their voice against the decisions taken by Pinarayi," he said.
He also observed the outflow of votes from the Left vote banks had contributed to his huge margin of nearly 1.5 lakh votes . "This is evident from the huge lead I got in the Left bastion of Chadayamangalam. My majority and the votes received by the BJP increased simultaneously. This adds more shine to my victory as the CPM had campaigned that I had chosen the BJP's candidate," Mr. Premachandran added.
"They tried to associate me with the BJP to divert the minority votes. Ministers, three politburo members, MLAs and even branch committee members tried to make me anti-minority," he said.
