Thiruvananthapuram, May 11 -- The CPI(M) Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the party, began its two-day meeting on Sunday in Delhi to examine its defeats in the recent round of assembly elections, particularly in Kerala and West Bengal.

In Kerala, while the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) could win only 35 of the state's 140 seats, in Bengal, the party won just one seat out of the 294 the coalition fought in.

The meeting will also decide whether outgoing chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will assume the post of the leader of opposition.

When reporters asked Vijayan, on his way to the Politburo meeting in Delhi, whether he would take up the LoP's post, he replied, "Ask the general secretary."

The party is reported to have...