CPI-M kickstarts Kerala poll campaign

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - Smarting under the drubbing received in the recent local bodies poll in Kerala, the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has decided to draw attention to the corruption cases engulfing Congress.

“We have decided to have a two-phase campaign and our main point in the campaign would be the corruption issues like the 2G scam. From 5th to 11th, the campaign would be centred in all the assembly constituencies and from 15th to 31st, the campaign would be conducted at the village level,” the party’s state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here Wednesday.

The party hoped the campaign would boost cadre morale ahead of next year’s assembly polls.

“We really suffered a backlash, especially at the panchayat level, and this was the first time we had to suffer this bad. We will certainly introspect on what happened because we know that there are some issues here and there. We will identify our faults and come back strongly,” said Vijayan.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front staged one of its biggest ever victories in the state by winning two of the five municipal corporations and edging out the ruling Left Democratic Front at the municipalities, district, block and gram panchayats at the polls held in the third week of October.