Marred by serious differences over reasons that led to its decline and the way out, CPI(M)'s Central Committee on Wednesday asked the top leadership to place a fresh draft on the political-tactical line to be adopted by the Left party to rejuvenate its organisation and overcome political isolation.
The Central Committee, after discussing the draft report of the political-tactical line, "authorised" the 15-member Politburo "to present a revised draft on the lines suggested by it for approval in the next meeting" of the 93-member panel, slated in January in Hyderabad.
Differences in perception within CPI(M) had come to fore at the four-day meeting which concluded today over how to overcome the growing political isolation in the national political arena.
While the official draft was virtually challenged by a counter note moved by senior leader Sitaram Yechury, another note was moved by Politburo member BV Raghavulu too reflected divergence of views. There were five more notes moved by Central Committee (CC) members.
Downplaying the differences, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said, "Everyone in the party has full freedom to put forth their views and get them debated", adding that all the seven notes, portraying differing opinions, were debated by the CC.
He said the CC, during the debate, listed out seven issues on the basis of which the draft political-tactical line would be revised. The final document would be placed before the Party Congress in April next year.
The issues gear around the lack of independent growth of the party since the 13th Congress in 1988 just before the neo -liberalisation process started in 1991 and the lack of progress on forming a Left Democratic Front as an alternative to all the "bourgeois-landlord" parties.
Asked whether CPI(M) would align with Congress to fight BJP, Karat said this was "not a matter of discussion in our party at all. We cannot have any alliance with Congress anywhere in the country, including West Bengal."
However, he said, "In the fight against the BJP government or the danger of communalism led by the Hindutva forces, we will work with all secular forces. It is a question of mobilising the people. It has to be the broadest mobilisation of all secular, democratic forces to fight communalism." On BJP gaining strength in West Bengal "at its cost", the CPI(M) leader said, "That is the erosion of our support base in the state. It is one of the factors we are looking into." Regarding political and organisational issues, he said it was not just electoral reverses suffered by CPI(M) but "we also need to look into the issue of lack of sufficient growth of the party".
The party, while reviewing its 2014 Lok Sabha electoral debacle after its strength fell to nine from 43 in 2004, had attributed the decline in its independent strength to "the tactics of allying with the bourgeois parties," indicating the alliances with some regional parties.
This review had also pointed to the "alienation" of the party from the people primarily due to the "failure to initiate struggles and develop the movements". At that time itself, the CPI(M) leadership had stressed the need for a re-examination of the political-tactical line to advance its independent strength.
Karat said the next Central Committee meeting would adopt the draft political resolution for the next three years and the draft review report of what went wrong in the past.
"The two reports will then be thrown open for discussion among our one million members and all suggestions, corrections or amendments would be placed before the Party Congress." Within a few months of the Congress in April next year, the party would hold a special session or a Plenum to discuss the organisation on the basis of the guidelines decided by the Congress. The last such Plenum was held in 1978 at Salkia in West Bengal.
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