Karat-Bengal tussle CPM’s biggest challenge

The CPM, facing its toughest challenge in history, needs to adopt a tactical line ahead of its crucial central committee meeting in August.

The CPM, facing its toughest challenge in history, needs to adopt a tactical line ahead of its crucial central committee meeting in August.

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The aim is to calm the war of nerves between CPM general secretary Pakash Karat and a section in the party’s West Bengal unit.

On questions of industrialisation, a policy that backfired for the CPM in Bengal, and its attitude towards the Congress, fissures in the party are coming to the fore ahead of the politburo meeting on July 2 and 3.

The politburo meeting will discuss the resolution to be adopted at the extended central committee meeting in Vijayawada from August 7 to 10.

The party central committe will meet in July to fine-tune the resolution before August.

Firstly, some leaders, especially from the Bengal unit, support an alliance with the Congress for the assembly polls in the state next year. Some leaders are also in favour of extending it to the national level.

Karat is also expected to face flak for letting UPA-I complete its term and seal the Indo-US nuclear deal and for withdrawing support on the “inconsequential” issue.

“Then with the Congress continuing with its anti-people policies and fighting us head-on in Kerala, there can’t be a going back,” a leader said.

“We need to strengthen Left unity — including with the ultra-Left minus the Maoists and winning over Left-leaning intellectuals and then expanding the base,” said another leader about the resolution in the works.

The central leaders’ analysis shows that the Bengal unit’s efforts had not worked in the party’s favour. The industrial policy advocated by Bengal, which Karat had endorsed, will also be up for criticism.

“The guidelines formulated for the Left-ruled states in the Coimbatore party congress in 2008 is not followed in the true spirit in Bengal. They are following the 2006 policy of industrialisation despite the public backlash in Singur and Nandigram,” a leader said.