CPI(M) may go it alone in West Bengal and Kerala: Report

In a move that may create a wedge in the newly formed opposition INDIA alliance, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) has decided to go solo in both West Bengal and Kerala, where the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Congress are its main rivals, said an NDTV report quoting sources.

CPM’s decision to not form any electoral alliances with the INDIA block partners of which TMC and Congress are prominent constituents was taken at a two-day meeting of CPM Polit Bureau in Delhi on September 16–17. The CPM has also decided against nominating a representative for the meeting of the coordination committee of the opposition alliance, said the NDTV report.

The CPM wants to keep an equal distance from both the TMC and the Congress, sources in the party said. The Communists were conspicuous by their absence in the first meeting of the coordination committee which was held on September 13 at NCP leader Sharad Pawar’s residence in Delhi, though the alliance had kept a seat vacant for the CPM in the 14-member body.

No official statement

However, there is no official statement by the CPM on its decisions.

The CPM said in its statement that it will “work for the further consolidation and expansion of INDIA bloc” and underlined the need to “strengthen the efforts to safeguard the secular democratic character of the Indian Republic” to defeat the BJP.

“The Polit Bureau decided to work for the further consolidation and expansion of INDIA bloc to strengthen the efforts to safeguard the secular democratic character of the Indian Republic, the Constitution, Democracy and People’s fundamental rights and civil liberties. This requires that the BJP must be kept away from controlling the Union government and State Power. The Polit Bureau decided to further strengthen these efforts,” the statement said.

Making its position on mobilising the “people to ensure the defeat of the BJP” in elections, it further said, “The Polit Bureau endorsed the CPI(M) position at the last three meetings of INDIA bloc in Patna, Bengaluru and Mumbai to organise a series of public meetings across the country and to mobilize the people to ensure the defeat of the BJP in the forthcoming elections. Efforts should be focused to further expand the INDIA bloc and also to draw in significant sections of the people’s movements in this effort.”

However, the party struck a note of caution in the statement with regard to organisational setup of the alliance, according to NDTV. “While all decisions will be taken by the leaders of the constituents, there should be no organisational structures that will be an impediment for such decisions,” the Polit Bureau said in the statement.