Even after facing veiled criticism for his “anachronistic” decision of “the withdrawal of support to the UPA 1”, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday refused to share the blame for the electoral debacles in Bengal. Rather, he has put the onus entirely on the state party`s “organisation lapses” and the state government`s “delivery mechanism”.
Participating in the two-day state committee meeting to review the poll disasters, Mr Karat said, “The central party (in the Vijayawada extended central committee meeting) had given a leeway to the Bengal party ‘to take its own course’ in the Assembly polls. The Bengal unit has had all the freedom to chalk out strategies to face the polls. Then how the question of taking the responsibility of the Central leadership for the debacle comes?”
Earlier, immediately after the poll debacles in Bengal and Kerala, Mr Karat, in a reply to a question whether he would take moral responsibility for the poll setback, had said, “I did not take credit for the 2006 electoral victories. Why should I take the blame alone for the defeat of 2011?”
Asked if he would step down, he said, “That’s not how we (the CPI(M) function. When the ship is going through a stormy phase, we don’t jump the ship. The leadership does not and that means neither me nor Buddhadeb Bhatacharjee (former West Bengal chief minister who lost in his own seat in the election) will resign (as politburo members).” Mr Karat had come to Kolkata on Saturday night to attend the meeting to get a “first-hand experience’’ of the analysis of the reasons behind the poll debacle and also to ensure that the entire blame was not heaped on the central leadership.
Significantly, the state committee was divided over the reasons for the party’s unprecedented electoral setbacks.