Thiruvananthapuram sources have stated that the joint meeting of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and its various allied organizations on Wednesday rebutted the CPI (M) allegation that the Malappuram by-election witnessed a communal polarization and the party was raising such a baseless and politically untenable charge because of its failure to give proper clarifications to various campaign issues raised by the United Democratic Front.

In a resolution, moved by KPCC treasurer Johnson Abraham, the KPCC meeting said the verdict in Malappuram was purely political and all sections of the people, irrespective of minority or majority classification, voted for the UDF. The election served to expose the bogus claim of the CPI (M) that it was the only outfit fighting against communalism and fascism.

The BJP’s setback in the constituency clearly indicated that people hated extreme communal postures. The verdict negated the BJP’s optimism at its Bhubaneswsar conference that it would electorally override Kerala. Meanwhile when addressing a press conference soon after the meeting, KPCC president M. M. Hassan said CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s statement at the far end of electioneering in Malappuram that Congress leaders were shifting camp to the BJP was nothing but a futile effort at concentrating Kerala politics in the hands of his party and the BJP.

He wanted Cooperation Minister Kadakampally Surendran to apologise for making statements that was an affront to the electors of Malappuram. The resolution said "The LDF government had miserably failed in maintenance of law and order. The move to release hardened convicts before the completion of their prison term would set a bad precedent and undermine the rule of law. We seriously view the move to release these prisoners en masse".