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CPI(M) central panel to take a call on pact with Congress
Sitaram Yechury’s demand to tweak CPI(M)’s current political-tactical line has been opposed by his predecessor Prakash Karat.
The central committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) will go into a huddle over general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s proposal to allow political adjustment with the Congress.
The four-day meet started in Kolkata on Friday.
Yechury’s demand to tweak the party’s current political-tactical line has been opposed by his predecessor Prakash Karat, who enjoys the support of the powerful Kerala lobby within the party.
Yechury has argued that CPI(M) should be open to a United Progressive Alliance-1 like political adjustment. The CPI(M) provided issue-based support to the Congress-led government between 2004 and 2008.
The party will also take stock of its preparedness for the assembly elections in Tripura—one of the two states where the CPI(M) is in power.
It expects a bigger challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress—both trying to expand their footprint in the landlocked state where the Left has been in power since 1993.
“The issue of changing the political tactical line will certainly be an important part of our discussions,” said a politburo member.
The Yechury camp is looking at a possibility to make adjustments with the Congress in 2019 to oust the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government from power.
According to this section of the CPI(M), the BJP poses a greater threat than the Congress at this time and so there is a need for secular forces to come together.
Ironically, a day before the meeting started, Kerala chief minister Pinarai Vijayan ruled out any electoral truck with the Congress.
Vijayan maintained that both the BJP and the Congress follows the same path of “neoliberal policies” as he accused the BJP of aggressively pushing the Congress’ model of “pro-corporate economic policies.”
