Defects will be identified and solved: Vijayan on poll results
Following the CPM-led LDF’s disastrous showing, Vijayan said that the party will make necessary changes.
A day after the voters of Kerala handed the CPM and its allies a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan vowed to examine the results in detail and make necessary changes.
Post the disastrous showing of the CPM-led LDF, where it won just one out of the 20 seats in Kerala, CM Vijayan did not meet reporters or react to the results on Tuesday. A day later, he took part in a World Environment Day event and chaired a cabinet meeting. His office later issued a statement acknowledging the election results.
“In Kerala, the LDF did not get the victory it expected. The result is more or less similar to 2019. By accepting the mandate, examining it deeply and making necessary corrections, we will ensure that the work of the state government is implemented more effectively. Defects will be identified and solved,” read the statement.
At the same time, the CM claimed there was ‘organised propaganda’ against the state government and that efforts will be made to remove the ‘misconceptions’ among the people.
Opposition parties like the Congress and BJP have termed the LDF’s defeat as evidence of the rising public anger in the state against the Vijayan-led government, particularly the cabinet’s failures in governance and administration, financial deadlock and rise in crimes.
The Kerala CM underlined that he viewed with seriousness the BJP’s win in Thrissur, which was the party’s debut Lok Sabha victory in the state. “The fact that the BJP won the first LS constituency in our state, considered a model of democracy and secularism, needs to be critically evaluated. All secular, democratic people must be ready for it,” he said.
However, Vijayan also noted that the Lok Sabha result at the national level was a heavy blow to the BJP’s efforts to subvert democracy and constitutional values.
“These results, in which the BJP failed to get a simple majority on its own, show that the people have rejected all the propaganda made by a section of the media, administration and central agencies. The people have broken the illusion of the BJP that they can move ahead safely by raising communalism and sectarianism,” the CM said.
At the same time, CPM state secretary MV Govindan justified the party’s performance in the election by stating that its vote-base has not eroded and that its popular vote-share has only come down by 1%.
“The general picture is that the trend this time is more or less the same as 2019. We are where we were while the UDF has lost one seat. We will examine the results in detail and make necessary corrections,” he said.
