Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM will finalise a strategy in August to win back those who had voted against the party on the Sabarimala issue in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Based on the feedback received by party leaders, including politburo and state committee members, during their week-long house visits across the state, the CPM will formulate its future course of action.
Though the state government has reiterated its commitment to implement the Supreme Court verdict, the ruling party is unlikely to go on an overdrive on the temple issue.
In an article in party mouthpiece Deshabhimani, state secretary Kodyeri Balakrishnan said that during the house visits, many women who voted against the party told them that they had now realised the propriety and correctness of the CPM stand on the Sabarimala issue. The government has no power to go against the court verdict. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Singh, while replying to the private member’s Bill on the Sabarimala issue, had said the central government had no power to circumvent the Supreme Court verdict.
During the election time, the UDF leaders carried out a false campaign claiming that if the UPA came to power it would bring legislation to protect the interests of Sabarimala devotees and the temple’s customs and rituals, he wrote. The BJP also undertook a similar campaign. But these parties succeeded in misleading a sizeable section of devotees and getting their votes, he wrote.
He said the people of Kerala are well aware of the fact that the CPM does not interfere with the rituals, beliefs and religious customs and believes in the freedom to practise any faith. However, the rival political parties aided by a section of caste and communal outfits and a section of the media created misunderstanding among the believers. This led to the erosion of a significant number of traditional votes of the LDF, the CPM leader said.
The party claims that a sizeable section of people has now understood the hollowness of the BJP and Congress campaign. During the house visit, the people conveyed their appreciation for the policies of the LDF government. However, many had reservations about the police functioning, custodial excesses and needless controversies that rock the government from time to time, Mr Balakrishnan admitted. The admission comes at a time when the handling of the police has come in for sharp criticism even from the quarters who supported the LDF.
