In a rare act, the CPI(M) leadership has yielded to the pressure from the cadre and changed the candidate in an Assembly constituency. This rare act has happened in Kuttiadi, a constituency in Kozhikode district.
The CPI(M) has now decided to field party district secretariat member and former district panchayat president K.P. Kunhammad Kutty as per the demand of the local party cadre. The seat was earlier allotted to Kerala Congress (Mani), an ally in the Left Democratic Front.
The Kerala Congress (Mani) had on Sunday announced its decision to return the seat to the CPI(M), taking into consideration the protests. Following the KC(M) decision, the Kozhikode district secretariat had met and recommended his name to the state secretariat for candidature in the constituency.
Hundreds of CPI(M) workers had rallied in protest after the Left Democratic Front allotted the Kuttiadi constituency seat in Kozhikode district to Kerala Congress (Mani) faction. Shouting slogans and holding posters against the decision, the cadres had strongly asked the state leadership to field Kunhammad Kutty from the constituency.
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The senior leaders in the party had earlier come against the local protests and had asserted that there would be no change in the candidature as the seat has already been given to an ally. The current change in the position is seen as a late realisation regarding the potential of the local protest.
“That the CPI(M) leadership decided to yield to local cadre should be seen as a welcome change from its Stalinist postures,” said K.T. Saju, a political observer. “It shows that the CPI(M) is getting more democratised,” he added.
The only time the CPI(M) leadership had yielded to local pressure was regarding the candidature of former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan. The CPI(M) state leadership had denied a seat to V.S., alleging factionalist tendencies in 2006 and this had led to huge protests then. After days of protests, the CPI(M) central leadership asked the state committee to take a decision in favour of V.S.. The state leadership then relented and V.S. was allowed to contest from Malambuzha. V.S. won with a huge majority and he was made the chief minister once LDF swept to power.