The Left may have witnessed mixed fortunes in the March-April Assembly elections but for CPI national council secretary and Rajya Sabha member Binoy Viswam, the biggest lesson of the May 2 results is that “the BJP can be defeated”. “The people are no longer ready to succumb to the ill-motivated designs of the BJP,” Viswam told The Telegraph. The Left Democratic Front made history in Kerala by becoming the first formation to retain power in 44 years, while in Bengal the Left Front scored a duck for the first time ever. “The most vital difference is that in Kerala, the fight was led by the Left, and it could tell people that it was the most dependable alternative to the Right-wing forces,” Viswam said.