Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Polit Bureau member M.A. Baby, MLA, has said the Communist Party of India (CPI) is a party without a programme of its own.
Addressing a press conference organised by the Press Club here on Saturday, Mr. Baby said the CPI had kept its programme in suspended animation following differences of opinion. Accusing the CPI of adopting an approach favourable for the Congress, he alleged that the party had even backed the Emergency.
The CPI(M) was a party working with a clear programme. The party central committee had decided to celebrate the 50th anniversary of party formation.
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Mr. Baby said the reasons that led to the formation of the CPI(M) still had relevance. General secretaries of both parties had made it clear that the merger of the Communist parties was not under discussion. Bringing up debate over merger would eliminate the scope for the present cooperation, he said. Mr. Baby said there was no cooperation with the RSP in the State. Noting that the CPI was with the Congress in Telangana, he expressed a cautious optimism that those issues could be resolved through discussions sometime in the future.
The lost influence of the Left should be restored and that called for cooperation of individuals and various groups and organisations such as the CPI(ML). Mr. Baby said the course correction under way in the CPI(M) had to become more effective. Fixing terms for party secretaries was part of the organisational course correction. Earlier the party was examining the failures in implementing its tactics, while now a decision had been taken to have a look at whether those tactics were inadequate.
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He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had targeted Kerala stating that the visit of the Sarsanghchalak and BJP president Amit Shah as an indication. The BJP could not grow only in Kerala and Bengal where the Left was a strong presence. Mr. Baby demanded a CBI inquiry into the TTP corruption scandal.