The CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu and CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s contention that only capitalism can industrialise West Bengal, has irked its allies RSP.
NEW DELHI: The CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu and chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s contention that only capitalism can industrialise West Bengal, has irked its allies RSP and Forward Bloc even as the CPI calling for an India-specific brand of socialism, has questioned the development path pursued by Buddhadeb.
Despite party general secretary Prakash Karat issuing a statement on Monday clarifying that the latter’s comments were wrongly interpreted by the media, the RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI are not buying the explanation.
CPI general secretary AB Bardhan said “off the cuff statements cannot solve the problems. India cannot copy the Chinese or Russian model of socialism. It has to be India specific.”
He said the raison d’etre of communist parties is to usher in socialism. “It may take years. Some path of development has to be followed. Economic growth does not indicate development of people. By all means have industry, but you are a Left Front government you have to find a new path of development.”
Bardhan said he once told Buddhadeb that he was “not a Deng Xiaoping, you are the chief minister of state and country’s economic policy is not in your hands.”
Slamming the “capitalism” comments, Chandrachoodan, RSP leader and member of UPA-Left nuclear committee, said “one is prompted to feel that it is a time when the soul of communist working class is mortgaged to the devil.”
He said the people would reject the statement that we cannot wish away capitalism and that socialism is becoming irrelevant.
“The leaders who once struggled to liberate the working class no longer want the workers. Earlier, leaders stood two feet above their followers, now the leaders have become robbers.”
His West Bengal counterpart Manoj Bhattacharjee said, “the CPI(M) is speaking the language of Manmohan Singh. The unabashed advocacy of capitalism by the chief minister cannot be the political position of the Marxist Leninist party.”
Disagreeing with the CPI(M) honchos, Forward Bloc general secretary Debaratra Biswas said, “it was their perception. Socialism will not fall from the heaven and that we have to follow a different path. We are fighting the capitalist system.”
It is not just the allies, even within the CPI(M) hardliners like Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan was a bit puzzled at comments.
Even as he blamed the Kerala media for “distorting” his statement, Achuthanandan who was here to attend the Pravasi meeting, made it clear that there is no substitute to socialism.
“In the capitalist scheme of things there will be development in the first phase, and in the next phase there will be severe exploitation of the working class, that’s why the working class has signed the death warrant of capitalism,” he said.
k_benedict@dnaindia.net
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