CPI-M rejects politburo member's request to resign as MLA

Thiruvananthapuram, May 24 (IANS) The CPI-M that met here Saturday has rejected the request of politburo member M.A. Baby to resign as a legislator, party leaders said.

A row had erupted after Baby went back to his home constituency when votes was counted in Kollam Lok Sabha constituency from where he was the party candidate.

State secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here Saturday that there was no demand for Baby to resign.

"There was no such talk in our meetings, as all know the pattern of voting is always different in the Lok Sabha and the assembly," Vijayan said after the conclusion of the two-day meeting that took stock of the general election results.

Earlier in the day, Baby had told a TV channel that he expressed his desire to resign as legislator from Kundara.

Baby, a veteran CPI-M leader, had contested from Kollam Lok Sabha seat but lost to his former cabinet colleague N.K. Premachandran, whose Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) ended their nearly three decade-old association with the Left and joined the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF).

The Kollam Lok Sabha seat was held by the Congress, but the party made way for Premachandran to contest.

Vijayan said the Left Front has doubled its tally of seats from four to eight.

He said there was a positive response from the minority communities during the early part of the campaign but at the fag end there was a shift in their attitude.

"We expected to win more seats as there was all-round harmony amongst us and our allies who supported us from outside," he said.

Vijayan, however, claimed the community organisations as well as the media were against them, which led to a shrinkage in support.

"We will introspect on what happened," he added.