Senior CPM leader A Vijayaraghavan on Friday said the party's defeat in the Kerala Assembly elections could not be attributed to any single factor, as the leadership examined organisational, administrative, political and social reasons behind the setback.

Speaking to reporters, Vijayaraghavan said the CPM had conducted a comprehensive assessment of the election results, beginning at the grassroots level. The findings were subsequently examined by the State Committee and the Central Committee.

He said the review was not aimed at holding any individual responsible for the defeat.

CPM examines multiple reasons

"For a state like Kerala, the CPM should have achieved a much better electoral performance. We examined the multifaceted reasons why that did not happen," he said.

Vijayaraghavan said the election setback should not be viewed simply as a failure either of the leadership or the party cadre.

"The election failure is not merely limited to issues that need to be shared between the cadre and the leadership. There can be social factors, financial factors, administrative factors and political factors behind an election defeat. The defeat is tied to all these elements," he said.

Asked whether there had been a failure on the part of the cadre, Vijayaraghavan said the leadership and grassroots workers were part of the same organisation.

"A party is defined by the relationship between its leadership and the grassroots level. You see the cadre as something separate, but that's not how it is," he said.

Organisational shortcoming acknowledged

Vijayaraghavan, however, acknowledged that the party had fallen short in mobilising people behind its political position.

"Our party has a position. The party's job is to rally the people behind that position. There was an organisational shortcoming in mobilising enough people behind the party line," he said.

He stressed that this shortcoming should not be interpreted as a flaw in the party's political position.

"That shortcoming cannot be called a flaw in the party's position itself. It is a combination of all these factors," he added.

He said the State Committee and Central Committee had formally examined the election results and recorded their assessment.

Vijayaraghavan hits out at media narrative

Vijayaraghavan also criticised sections of the media for focusing on whether the defeat was linked to the failure of particular leaders.

He alleged that some media outlets aligned with the right-wing front were taking statements out of context and attempting to turn them into an anti-CPM campaign.

The dominant media narrative attributes the LDF’s electoral setback primarily to former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, criticizing his centralized functioning style, perceived intolerance to criticism, and failure to contain anti-incumbency against his second-term administration. Simultaneously, media reports target CPM State Secretary M V Govindan for organisational shortcomings. Critics focus heavily on his inability to communicate effectively with ordinary voters, noting that his heavy reliance on communist terminology creates a disconnect with common people.