In Poll Postmortem, CPM's Biggest Admission Is About Hindutva

The CPI(M) has released a post-election review admitting that the party failed to counter the BJP's Hindutva-focused propaganda in Kerala. The report acknowledges a significant electoral setback and expresses concern over the BJP's growing influence in the state.
Why it matters
This admission marks a major strategic shift for the Left in one of its last remaining strongholds, signaling a potential realignment in Kerala's political landscape.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has formally adopted its Central Committee review of the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, and one line from the document has grabbed headlines: That the party allowed the campaign to become centered on then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. But that is not the review's most significant conclusion. In a statement that smacked of defeat, the document read, "The party is not sufficiently equipped to counter the RSS-BJP Hindutva-communal-corporate propaganda".The admission is part of the party's "Review of Assembly Election Results", adopted at the Central Committee meeting held from July 11 to 13, 2026, after discussions in the Kerala state secretariat and state committee. The party described the 2026 verdict as a "debacle" and said the defeat is "incomparable with any of our earlier defeats". It also acknowledged that the BJP's rise in Kerala was not just an electoral setback, but a warning that Hindutva has made deep inroads…
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