Rift Within Left Over Poll Debacles

Kolkata: Heaping fresh blame on the CPI(M) for taking “unilateral” decisions, a senior CPI leader and West Bengal minister Thursday said being the largest constituent it has to share major responsibility for election debacles.

Instead of taking decisions unanimously in the Front, some decisions were taken by the CPI(M) unilaterally, the outcome of which was bad,” Srikumar Mukherjee, CPI leader and the minister of state for Home (Civil Defence) said.

Asked which decisions the CPI(M) had taken unilaterally, Mukherjee said, “This relates to some cabinet decisions. We could have differed with CPI(M) had these decisions been taken collectively.”

Toeing the line of party general secretary A B Bardhan who has blamed the CPI(M) and the state government for the plunge in the Left’s fortunes, the minister said, “I am not saying that partners have no responsibility. But, being the largest constituent, CPI(M) has to share major responsibility.”

The ruling Left Front had issued a gag order on Front partners not to publicly air contradictory views on its policies after some allies repeatedly embarrassed the CPI(M) leadership demanding early assembly elections in the state because of repeated drubbing in elections.

Assembly election in the state is due in 2011.

West Bengal Socialist Party leader and Fisheries minister Kiranmoy Nanda had publicly demanded that the government call it quits and call snap polls. A CPI(M) minister Rezzak Mollah had also voiced similar views after the bye-election drubbing.

Tags: debacle, Left, poll, Rift