CPM politburo meet today to review results

It is time for introspection for the CPI( M) where rumblings have begun on the need for a complete overhaul of the party leadership under which the major Left party has sunk to its lowest ever tally of just 9 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. While the party has touched a historic low , its complete rout with just 2 seats in West Bengal has dealt the party a huge blow in these Lok Sabha elections which also saw its Left ally — the RSP drift from the Left fold in Kerala.

The CPI( M) politburo will meet on Sunday to review the election results.

A party leader who did not wish to be quoted said the drastic decline in West Bengal and the gradual shift of its mass base needs immediate attention and refused to accept the party general secretary Prakash Karat’s view that the results were ‘’ distorted’’ because of extensive rigging at the behest of the Trinamul. “There may have been rigging but it is a fact that the critical mass base of the Left is declining,” the leader said.

The total vote- share of CPI( M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc has drastically slid from about seven per cent in 2009 general elections to 4.5 per cent this time round, according to official all- India data.

Setting the alarm bells ringing among the leaders of the Left parties, the CPI( M)’ s vote share declined from 5.33 per cent in 2009 polls to 3.2 per cent and CPI’s from 1.43 per cent to 0.8 per cent. RSP and Forward Bloc got 0.3 and 0.2 per cent vote share respectively in these elections.

Of the total 10 seats the Left won, nine were of CPI( M) and one of CPI, with six coming from Kerala and two each from Tripura and West Bengal. Poll data from West Bengal showed CPI( M) getting 22.7 per cent vote share, CPI 2.3, RSP 2.4 and Forward Bloc 2.1 — totalling 29.5 per cent of the total votes in the state.