The Left Front’s troubles may have just begun. Faced with a combined opposition in West Bengal and infighting in Kerala, the central committee meeting of the CPI-M on Saturday assessed the party’s prospects with a fine toothcomb.
It didn’t take much time to conclude that for the CPM, the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections are going to be the toughest ever. On the first day of the two-day meeting, the state secretaries of Kerala and West Bengal submitted their political reports.
“The party realises that it is an uphill task but we are determined to defeat the opportunistic alliance of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal,” Politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai said.
The coming together of the Congress and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal to challenge the Left was the focus of Saturday’s brainstorm meet.
“We have faced them (the Congress and Trinamool) before in the panchayat elections. We will still manage to get more than 50 per cent of votes,” Bengal secretary Biman Bose said.
A few days ago, Bose had conceded that in West Bengal the party faced a poll situation similar to the one in 1984, when riding on a massive sympathy wave the Congress had swept 16 seats from the Left Front. The Left Front had 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
{{/usCountry}}A few days ago, Bose had conceded that in West Bengal the party faced a poll situation similar to the one in 1984, when riding on a massive sympathy wave the Congress had swept 16 seats from the Left Front. The Left Front had 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha.
{{/usCountry}}Kerala state secretary P. Vijayan also submitted his report. The meeting also saw Cannanore MP A.P. Abdullakutty being expelled for the party.
Abdullakutty had been suspended from the CPM in January this year for having praised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s development strategies.
Talking to reporters, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury hinted that the CPM, which has decided to contest 80 Lok Sabha seats, will try to sew up more alliances with secular parties after the elections.