CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat may have dismissed all signs of unrest within the party, but political observers feel that the rift will take a definite turn.
KOLKATA: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat may have dismissed all signs of unrest within the party, but political observers feel that the rift will take a definite turn at the party’s politburo and central committee meetings.
Till now, most politburo and central committee members of the CPI(M), who were opposed to pulling the plug on the UPA government over the nuclear deal issue, remained quiet within the party fora.
But after West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and former chief minister Jyoti Basu broke their silence, there has been a vociferous effort to challenge party general secretary Prakash Karat’s “US or us” stand.
In the politburo, the agitation is being led by Bhattacharya, Basu and Biman Bose. While in the central committee, the torch bearers of the anti-Karat movement are Nirupam Sen, Md Amin, Md Salim, Surya Kant Mishra and Basudeb Acharya. Interestingly, at the last central committee meeting last month, only Nirupam Sen had spoken against the decision to withdraw support to the UPA.
CPI(M) leaders averse to mid-term elections feel that this is their only chance to galvanise the moderates in the party as another central committee meeting is unlikely before mid-October when the UPA begins operationalising the nuclear deal. That is, if the December deadline set by the US is met, and the Left precipitates its threat in response.
Though the last central committee meeting authorised the politburo to decide all future course of actions of the CPI(M) on the deal, party leaders said there is nothing to prevent members of the central committee to seek a re-think.
The new line of argument would be though the N-deal can be stridently opposed but it need not be linked to support to the UPA.
Significantly, the politburo meeting is being held in Kolkata to enable the participation of Basu who is unable to travel. Basu can be expected to be forthright about his views on withdrawing support to the government.
It is also believed that CPI(M) leaders in Bengal are irked by the emergency politburo meeting in Chennai last week to set an agenda for the Kolkata meet. Members from Bengal did not attend the meet.
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