As the results of the Lok Sabha polls in the state came out, one thing became very clear – the long-drawn agitations by the LDF on the solar and Saritha scams, which even led to the massing of thousands of its workers for a Secretariat siege on August 12, 2013 in Thiruvananthapuram and an attack on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy later in October in Kannur, failed to get them votes. Did the attempt of the Opposition to link Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to the scam backfire?
The victory of UDF candidates K.C. Venugopal in Alappuzha and Kodikkunnil Suresh in Mavelikara, who were hounded by the LDF for their alleged links to the scam, brought up the question in the public arena even more forcefully. Like Mr Chandy, who had said with confidence that the polls would be a referendum on his government, Mr Venugopal had said during the campaign that he was leaving the issue to the people’s court. Ultimately, both stood vindicated in the people’s court.
LDF convener Vaikkom Viswan, however, is still not convinced that the agitations were a failure. “It’s true that our performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state remained below expectations, though we doubled the tally from four in 2009 to eight this time. As Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan suggested, the LDF will look into the reasons for the fall in its vote share,” Mr Viswan said.
When asked about the failure of the solar scam agitations, the LDF convener said he did not share such a view. “We have never felt that the solar agitations failed to connect with the people. There is every chance such issues got diverted by the larger issue of majority communalism during the polls. The threat of majority communalism might have led to consolidation of minority votes in favour of the UDF,” Mr Viswan said.
Interestingly, many in the LDF itself seemed not to share the view of Mr Viswan. CPI’s V.S. Sunilkumar, MLA, who was in the forefront of the solar agitation, admitted that there was lot of soul searching to be done by the LDF. “The agitations on the solar and Saritha scams failed to connect with people. I have a feeling that the agitations even backfired,” he said.
The MLA, however, clarified that it was not that people disbelieved the LDF campaign. “The public did not think that this was a serious issue. It did not affect their lives like price rise or hike in the transport fare,” Mr Sunilkumar said, adding that in his opinion the LDF should do a thorough introspection. “It’s better if we take up issues that directly affect the people. The very foundation of Left politics depend on agitations linked to bread and butter issues of people,” he pointed out
Mr Sunilkumar also felt that the overkill by TV media during the solar agitation must have also alienated the people.
“It’s something that should be analysed by social scientists.” He, however, was sure that it was curtains for the solar agitation unless “something big emerges” in the coming days.
The MLA, a former youth leader, also blamed the youth organisations for failing to take up issues closer to people. “Have any of the youth organisations bothered to agitate on the hike in price of LPG or the recent government decision to raise the transport fares?,” he asked.
