Repeated electoral defeats and a diminishing relevance in national politics are not the only problems that the CPI(M) is fighting. Ideological differences cropped up within the party brass during the ongoing four-day Central Committee meeting in New Delhi on how to tackle the crisis.
While most party leaders The Hindu spoke to on Monday sought to play down these differences as inner party democracy, a few said at the heart of these differences could be a succession battle over the next general secretary of the party.
The CPI(M) boasted 44 Lok Sabha MPs in 2005 when the New Delhi Party Congress first elected the current general secretary Prakash Karat. The party constitution mandates a three-term cap for the post and Mr. Karat’s last term will be over in Visakhapatnam early next year at the 21st Party Congress — the CPI(M)’s highest decision-making body.
The CPI(M)’s numbers are now down to nine in the Lower House. S.R. Pillai and Sitaram Yechury are among the top two Polit Bureau members of the party after Mr. Karat.
The Central Committee (CC) is now debating the official draft political document that reviews the line taken by the Jalandhar Congress in 1978, according to which the CPI(M) was to take the lead in forming a broad anti-Congress platform of secular, democratic parties and isolate ‘communal forces.’
While the official draft is critical of the Jalandhar line, Mr. Yechury has placed before the CC a five-page supplementary note that contradicts the official line and blames the shortcoming in its implementation, especially in the last decade because of the party’s shrinking national footprint, failure to counter the BJP’s rise, and debacles in West Bengal and Kerala.
Many CC members confirmed that there are three documents and not one that is being deliberated upon. Sources said the third note has been moved by Polit Bureau member B.V. Raghavulu that supports the official line and seeks to dilute Mr. Yechury’s dissent.
While Mr. Yechury refused to take questions on his note, he said, “The BJP has won this election and their communal agenda is a matter of concern for us.” He added that the CC would debate what line to follow vis-à-vis the party’s aligning with other parties to stop the BJP’s spread.
CC member Basudeb Acharia said the situation of multiple documents being discussed at the meeting was not unprecedented. “We have internal democracy. There are many amendments in the document. When the party takes a final decision, the decision will speak for all,” he added.
