A Trinamool-Maoist tie-up, politburo told

As the CPM-led government tried to reclaim Maoist-held Lalgarh in Bengal on Friday, in Delhi, its state unit made its case before the politburo on how to regain political ground.

As the CPM-led government tried to reclaim Maoist-held Lalgarh in Bengal on Friday, in Delhi, its state unit made its case before the politburo on how to regain political ground.

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The party’s Kerala and West Bengal units gave their full and final assessments to the politburo, which also reflected on ways to fight back Maoists in the state’s tribal heartland.

Maoist extremists, who seek power for the poor through armed rebellion, have killed at least 10 CPM activists this week. They have seized Lalgarh where rebels backed by villagers are taking on police.

The CPM’s Bengal chief, Biman Bose, blamed the Opposition Trinamool Congress for the unrest. “There is ample evidence a rainbow coalition of opposition, including Trinamool and Maoists, are responsible for the violence,” he said.

Apart from electoral analysis, the Bengal unit made a presentation on the violence. The party, however, reiterated its position that Maoist violence had socio-economic causes and thus couldn’t be resolved with brute force alone, a CPM leader
told HT, requesting anonymity.

The 15-member politburo summed up the party’s “roadmap for revival” to be taken up by party central committee, the highest decision making body, which meets on Saturday.

The Bengal unit owned up to “mistakes” that caused the red bastion to crumble, while the Kerala unit pointed to a culmination of factors, including lack of coordination between the Left allies.

The reasons for poor performance and the “corrective measures” cited at the politburo meet have partly been articulated by the respective state secretariats before. “So, there’s nothing very different,” a politburo member said.

The politburo set aside threadbare discussions on the Kerala crisis, where Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan is gunning for rival and state party chief P Vijayan’s scalp. Vijayan has been named an accused in a power scam and Achuthanandan has sought a separate politburo on the issue, which has yet to be considered, a source said.