CPI Leadership Concerned At The Erosion Of Left Votes In Kerala In Lok Sabha Polls

The national council of the Communist Party of India (CPI) had a deeper introspection on the performance of the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at its three day session in New Delhi from July 11 to 14. The party went into the root causes of the decline in the LDF votes in 2024 polls compared to the 2021 state assembly elections and on the basis of that decided to make course corrections so that the party along with its LDF partners are more prepared to face the Congress led UDF and the BJP in the state assembly polls scheduled in 2026.

The LDF got only one Lok Sabha seat out of the total of 20 in Kerala in the 2024 polls. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls also, the LDF got also only one seat but in 2024 polls, the worrying factor was that the LDF lost votes and the BJP for the first time got one Lok Sabha seat from Thrissur defeating the well known CPI candidate. The CPI contested four seats in Kerala and lost all four. The CPI leadership took note of the reviews made by the CPI(M) leadership also over its Kerala performance and the admission by the CPI(M) that there was disconnect between the LDF government and the people. Apart, the CPI(M) leaders agreed that there were charges of corruption against many lower level leaders and this adversely affected the image of the LDF in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

While the focus of the discussions at the NC meeting was on how to improve the Left image in Kerala, it was felt that the CPI(M) as the leading partner of the LDF has to take corrective measures immediately to improve the image of the LDF government as the leading party taking into view that in 2026 assembly polls, the Congress led UDF would be making all efforts to unseat the ruling LDF government. It is imperative that all the partners, especially the CPI and the CPI(M) launch jointly big campaign to take on both the UDF and the BJP in the next two years.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the CPI congratulated the people of India for defeating the design of BJP to change the Constitution by not giving it a majority and making INDIA Bloc main opposition. However, INDIA Bloc could have done better if there would have been a proper seat sharing and mutual accommodation among the parties. In spite of this, INDIA Bloc has emerged as a strong force and expected to strengthen in future and the CPI will strive for it, the statement said.

The CPI expressed fear that aggressive, undemocratic functioning of BJP government will continue. As evident by imposing implementation of three new criminal laws from July 1, 2024 and continuing with all old portfolios with BJP leaders. Misusing all government machinery to harass opposition leaders and suppress dissent, will continue and is expected to increase further, the statement added.

According to the statement, the election result has shown how Left has won only nine seats out of 543 (2 CPI, 4 CPI (M), 2 CPI (ML), 1 RSP). A serious concern has been expressed by all members and tasks to strengthen party and movement have been adopted by National Council. As the party is entering into 100th year of its formation from 26th December 2024. It has been decided to launch various programmes and activities to reactivate the party and the movement.

The CPI views that the BJP lost its one party rule but will continue its politics of hate, polarization neo-liberal policies and corporate agenda with more efforts. In such context, the primary task will be to strengthen cooperation of all secular, democratic and Left forces in defence of secular democratic fabric of the country and the Constitution. The CPI said that the party will continue to support the INDIA bloc inside and outside Parliament to take on the BJP and the NDA.

While The CPI continues to be with INDIA Bloc, which is a broad platform of liberal bourgeois and regional parties which came together to defeat BJP, one of the important tasks will be to take efforts to strengthen the unity of the Communist and broader Left. So the national council statement says that from now on, political and organizational preparations have to be taken for the coming state assembly elections to be held in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu & Kashmir.

In a resolution adopted at the NC meeting, the CPI, requested the Finance Minister of Modi.3 government to increase the health budget to at least 3% of the GDP in the upcoming budget. India’s current public health expenditure is merely 1.35% of its GDP, which is among the lowest in the world. It has led to high out of pocket expenditure for a vast population.

According to a March 2022 World Health Organization (WHO) report, more than 17% of Indian households experience catastrophic health expenditures each year, which can push people into poverty. Catastrophic health spending is defined as out-of-pocket (OOP) payments that exceed a certain percentage of a household’s resources for healthcare. The report estimates that high OOP health expenditures impoverish around 55 million Indians annually.

India faces significant healthcare challenges, including a high burden of infectious diseases, a growing non-communicable disease epidemic, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. The on-going pandemic has further exposed the vulnerabilities of our healthcare system The CPI said that this hike of the health budget to 3 per cent of the GDP in the 2024-25 budget should be a must. (IPA Service)