Not all minority voters deserted us in Assembly polls, says CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has not come to a conclusion that all voters from minority communities had deserted the party and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the recent Assembly elections, party Kozhikode district secretary M. Mehboob has said. He was addressing the media here on Monday to talk about the extended district committee meeting scheduled to begin on Tuesday. Mr. Mehboob, however, admitted a section of voters from those communities, who had earlier supported the Left, could have voted against it. The CPI(M) leader said that it was the result of misleading campaigns undertaken by the LDF’s political rivals.

“In the local body polls and the Assembly election, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) functioned as if they are one and the same. There was a calculated campaign to discredit us. The Jamaat votes went completely against the LDF. Its workers also worked for the United Democratic Front (UDF), especially in Kozhikode, which has a high number of voters from minority communities after Malappuram,” Mr. Mehboob said. He also pointed out that though the LDF has an upper hand in Kozhikode, the UDF cannot be considered a small force in the district.

Mr. Mehboob’s comments were in response to questions related to the party’s and the LDF’s poor performance in the Assembly elections. Of the 13 seats in the district, the LDF could only win from Beypore. Meanwhile, asked about the arrest of M. Gireesh, CPI(M) district secretariat member, and C.P. Jaleel, Elathur branch member, over the Chevayur bank election in 2024, Mr. Mehboob said there was no legal basis to the case. The arrest followed the formation of a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged violence that took place during the election. A. Pradeepkumar, CPI(M) State committee member, alleged that the UDF was using SITs led by its obedient officers to target the LDF like how the BJP-led Union government was using the Enforcement Directorate to corner Opposition parties.