Political analysts, however, feel the mini congress may open a major divide in the top leadership of the CPI(M) on the issue of political relationship with the Congress.
In view of the 2011 assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala, the CPI(M) wants to better its relations with friend-turned-foe Congress.
To achieve this objective, the party is planning to hold a “mini congress”, technically called a “special plenum”, to finalise its strategy with regard to its political relationship with the Congress. The party’s politburo and central committee will convene the four-day mini congress in Andhra Pradesh (AP) in August this year.
“The AP state committee will finalise the venue and
inform the central committee by the last week of April. The committee will then discuss the issue at a meeting in New Delhi in the first week of May,” a senior central committee member told DNA.
Political analysts, however, feel the mini congress may open a major divide in the top leadership of the CPI(M) on the issue of political relationship with the Congress. While party general secretary Prakash Karat and confidants are likely to emphasise on continuing with the attempt to form a non-Congress, non-BJP independent forum, politburo veteran Sitaram Yechury, with support from the West Bengal, Tripura and Andhra Pradesh units, may emphasise on developing a cordial relationship with the Congress to extend the CPI(M)’s reach throughout the country, especially in Hindi-speaking states.
In the past, the CPI(M) has convened such a mini congress only in extreme cases to settle debates on the party’s ideology. There have been only four such cases in the CPI(M)’s history.
The first special plenum was convened in 1967 in Calicut, Kerala, to discuss alliance with Bangla Congress in West Bengal. The second session was held at Burdwan in West Bengal in 1968 to discuss ideological differences between the communist parties of the then USSR and China and its impact on Indian communist parties.
The third session was held at Salkia in West Bengal to discuss ways to extend party network in Hindi-speaking states, while the fourth session was held at Thiruvananthapuram, where modernisation of the party was discussed.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}