The RSP’s resolution for a bigger Left force at the national level has sparked off the debate which has divided the front into two groups, liberal and “dyed in the wool” communists.
KOLKATA:The debate over “shades of red” is becoming imminent in the Left Front.
The RSP’s resolution for a bigger Left force at the national level has sparked off the debate which has divided the front into two groups, liberal and “dyed in the wool” communists.
The RSP is the lone flag-bearer of the liberal camp which says a bigger and united national force is not possible unless the established Left parties get over their reservations on “shades of red”.
However, the other three major Left Front allies, the CPI(M), CPI and the All-India Forward Bloc, are against opening the gates for any party with slightest leftist or socialist leanings.
The RSP’s proposal for a bigger and united Left Front includes forces such as Suci, People’s War Group (PWG) and even Maoists factions, who have been diehard opponents of the Left Front in West Bengal. Senior RSP leader and West Bengal PWD minister Kshiti Goswami is the most vocal propagator of this resolution.
“The nation is going through a political and economic crisis, in the midst of which it would be foolish to debate who is more left than whom,” he says.
Goswani doesn’t believe even the Trinamool Congress is untouchable and says it is necessary to evaluate the class structure that it represents.
His reference to Trinamool seems to have raised the hackles of CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, who said, “When they are ready to evaluate the class structure that Trinamool represents, I have nothing to say.”
CPI general secretary AB Bardhan was also critical of the RSP’s choice. “We all know Suci is in hand-in-glove with Trinamool and they jointly contested the Left Front in the recently-concluded panchayat elections. How can they share the platform with us?” he said.
Left vs Left
RSP wants Suci, PWG and even Maoists included, while the other, bigger Left Front partners such as the CPI(M), CPI and Forward Bloc are opposed to the idea
r_sumanta@dnaindia.net
){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}