New Delhi/T’puram: CPM general secretary M A Baby on Monday said it was wrong to single out outgoing CM Pinarayi Vijayan for taking moral responsibility for LDF’s defeat after 10 years’ rule. His remarks came after a meeting of the party’s politburo in New Delhi.“Why should Pinarayi Vijayan be singled out to take moral responsibility for defeat. Our party is a collective entity. He is the senior-most member in politburo and central committee. When we went into polls as a collective, we said that he is leading the campaign and if we get a majority we will decide on who will be the CM,” Baby told reporters.“No single comrade should be held responsible. We, the leadership, will assess the poll results in detail, reach out to people in our organisation at all levels, look at the shortcomings and the role of leadership as a collective. We will self-criticise and take corrective measures and put in place the rectification process,” he said.The party said that though LDF suffered a “serious setback”, it secured 37.6% of votes in the state and would continue to resist “communal forces”.BJP winning 3 seats ‘serious’Baby described the LDF’s defeat as “unexpected” and expressed concern over the BJP winning three seats, calling it a serious political development. The politburo alleged in a statement that the Congress’s “soft approach towards communal forces” and “baseless allegations” against the CPM contributed to the BJP’s growth in Kerala.Baby alleged that BJP resorted to “unethical practices” in West Bengal to intensify anti-govt sentiment during the election process.Voters were removed from electoral rolls through special intensive revision process and alleged that the credibility and transparency of the Election Commission were “completely destroyed”.On the issue of opposition leader in Kerala, Baby said the decision would be taken within the state unit and clarified that the politburo did not discuss the matter during its meeting in Delhi. CPM state secretary M V Govindan also had stated that the decision on the opposition leader would be made in Kerala.Meanwhile, Vijayan remained silent when asked by reporters whether he would henceforth be travelling to Delhi in the capacity of opposition leader.
