CPM Poonjar probe in limbo

Kottayam:  The CPM’s inquiry into the electoral defeat of  LDF candidate P.C. Joseph in Poonjar constituency is yet to begin although it had announced the probe  by the party state secretariat member Baby John on June 7. Mr John, who was asked to probe the massive erosion of  votes from the  LDF  camp,  has yet not visited the place so far citing other preoccupations.   

“I have conducted discussions with the party leaders in Kottayam and I may  visit Poonjar  this week,”  he  told DC.   “The  commission will have to recommend action against a number of party leaders for their role in the defeat of the  LDF candidate”, said Mr  P. Shanavas,  LDF  election committee secretary  in the constituency.

The vote share of  the LDF was  reduced to almost half from that of the 2011 elections indicating that a  major section of LDF voters  voted for Mr P.C. George violating the party directions. In the 2011 elections, LDF independent candidate Mohan Thomas had bagged 44, 105 votes in a direct fight with Mr P.C. George who was in the UDF then.   

Mr P.C. Joseph  polled only 22, 270 votes this time.   A few days before the elections,  Mr  Pinarayi Vijayan had warned  a local committee secretary and a panchayat president for their lukewarm attitude to electioneering.