In an attempt to insulate CPI(M) boss Prakash Karat from blame for possible electoral defeats in both West Bengal and Kerala, his close aide and party politburo member S. Ramachandran Pillai has written a paper accusing the entire organisation of pursuing “electoral opportunism” and exhorted the party to “combat federal tendencies”. Speaking in Kolkata on Saturday, Mr Karat meanwhile had pointed a finger at the state party unit for the recent massacre in Lalgarh.
Mr Pillai’s tract Organisational Tasks and Rectification has evoked strong reactions from the comrades in both West Bengal and Kerala. A central committee member from Bengal described the document as a “brazen attempt to clear Karat of all his electoral misadventures and wrong electoral decisions.” He also felt the document was part of an organised exercise to secure a second term as general secretary for Mr Karat. There is intense speculation in party circles that pressure would mount on Mr Karat to step down as party boss if the CPI(M) loses the Assembly elections in West Bengal this year.
While the party under Mr Karat had tried to forge an alternative electoral alliance after breaking ties with the UPA ahead of the last general elections, Mr Pillai held the entire CPI(M) organisation to account for “following electoral opportunism”. He wrote: “As against a correct understanding of parliamentary work, the trend of parliamentarism and electoral opportunism is creeping into the party.” The central committee member from West Bengal noted that “despite Mr Karat’s blunders, his associates are now trying to find ideological fault in the organisation rather than blame the general secretary.” He added: “All these Karat men are trying to send the signal that he should not be blamed for electoral debacles, if any.”
Mr Pillai has tried to find fault, in particular, with the chief ministers of West Bengal and Kerala, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and V.S. Achhuthanandan, and wrote: “Many unhealthy trends of factionalism, careerism, individualism and absence of collective functioning are existing at different levels and doing great harm to the party.” Mr Achhuthanandan had earlier been suspended from the party politburo for opposing scam-tainted state CPI(M) secretary Pinyari Vijayan, who is a close ally of Mr Karat. Mr Karat himself has in the past lost no opportunity to blame the West Bengal administration headed by Mr Bhattacharjee for the party’s electoral setbacks in the state.
It is, however, under Mr Karat’s leadership that the CPI(M) has not only been going through its worst electoral crisis, but also, for the first time in its history, the party has no representative from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Mr Pillai, completely toeing the Karat line, says in his paper: “Federalism is surfacing at various levels of the party... (Its) uneven development is also a factor.” Then comes what is virtually a diktat to the rank and file to abide by the leadership’s line: “Federalism means violation of the centralised political line ... the tendencies of some units to disregard higher committees and the central line.” This, he said, “will harm the principles of democratic centralism. Hence, combating tendencies of federalism is necessary.”