CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of “doublespeak”.
In comments a day ahead of an expected show of unity at the swearing-in of H.D. Kumaraswamy as Karnataka Chief Minister in Bengaluru, Mr. Yechury said that though the constitutional order was demolished in the recent panchayat elections in West Bengal, Ms. Banerjee was trying to come across as a champion of democracy by hailing the victory of the Janata Dal(S) and the Congress in Karnataka.
Mr. Yechury is scheduled to attend Wednesday’s function along with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and S. Sudhakar Reddy and D. Raja of the CPI.
Marred elections
More than 40 people have died in violent incidents in the run-up to the panchayat polls in West Bengal. The results of the elections, held on May 14, have not been officially declared. Speaking to presspersons in the national capital, Mr. Yechury said that in many places, the candidates who lost were declared won and the candidates who won were declared lost.
“It is an irony that West Bengal Chief Minister hails the victory of democracy in Karnataka, but she was one of the earliest to tweet congratulations to the Chief Minister-elect of the BJP. She is trying to parade herself as a champion of democracy. This doublespeak will be exposed,” he said.
A “united Opposition” against the BJP puts the CPI(M) — one of loudest votaries for a coming together — in a peculiar dilemma. The party faces the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal and the Congress in Kerala. In 2004, when the Left got it highest tally in the Lok Sabha with 61 seats, 57 of them were elected in contests defeating the Congress candidate.
What makes the Left’s position even more precarious is the Trinamool’s overtures to the Congress, helping to elect Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi to the Rajya Sabha in March.
“We are very clear — oust Modi government in India and oust Mamata government in West Bengal. We are not talking about the arithmetic of bringing all political parties together. There is no question of going with the Trinamool to defeat the BJP,” Mr. Yechury said on having an understanding in West Bengal to defeat the BJP.
On the Trinamool lobbying for a lead position in an united opposition, Mr. Yechury called it a flight of fancy. “People can have their ambition. Nobody can deny their democratic right. Everybody can think that they can be next Prime Minister,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
