CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat will not campaign for what is arguably the most challenging Assembly election the party faces — West Bengal. The ostensible reason given for his absence is his extremely hectic campaign schedule in Kerala. The real reason, according to party insiders, is that he has not been invited by state party satraps although they have invited Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat. The relationship between the Ben-gal unit and Mr Karat rem-ains frosty. It was for this reason that he was not invited to the Brigade Parade Ground rally although he was keen on addressing it. The two politburo members, Mr Yechury and Ms Karat, will be visiting the state April 13 onwards.
Asked if party central leaders, including Mr Karat, would participate in the campaign, CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose, who appeared in a dilemma over the issue, said, “So far as I know two politburo members, Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat, will participate in campaigning on April 13 or 14 in north Bengal.” Insiders revealed the party state secretariat, in charge of campaigning, was averse to the idea of Mr Karat’s participation. “The general perception among our party ranks is that it was Mr Karat’s unnecessary hawkishness towards the Congress that proved to be our party’s nemesis. His ill-timed decision to withdraw support from the UPA-1 government paved the way for the alliance between the Trinamul Congress and Congress,” a party central committee member said, adding that Mr Karat was not a leader of the masses.
Significantly, Mr Karat and the party’s dissident Bengal unit appeared to have struck a quid pro quo deal at the extended central committee meeting at Vijayawada. He will let the Bengal unit determine strategy for the Assembly elections and, in return, it will not challenge Mr Karat’s supremacy till the 2012 party congress.