Karat: Taking stock

Calcutta, March 18: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat today ruled out any change of guard in Bengal in the wake of the Nandigram firing.

“People of West Bengal have elected the Left Front government and the Left Front has elected Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee the chief minister. He will continue to remain the leader of the government,” Karat told reporters at the party’s Alimuddin Street headquarters after meeting Bhattacharjee, CPM state secretary Biman Bose and other leaders.

The CPM chief’s observation sets at rest speculation among some sections that Bhattacharjee may have to put in his papers following criticism within the Left Front over the Nandigram firing. At the last secretariat meeting, some CPM leaders had also resented what they termed the manner in which they were kept in the dark on important decisions.

A concerned Karat had made a brief visit to the city to “take stock of the situation”.

“I have met state leaders and collected all reports related to the Nandigram incident. I will place it before the politburo meeting for further discussion,” he added.

A CPM leader later said the political fallout of Nandigram would top the agenda for the two-day meeting slated to begin on March 30 in New Delhi.

From the party office, Karat went to Indira Bhavan at Salt Lake to discuss the issue with Jyoti Basu. The party veteran had already expressed unhappiness over the manner in which some people were shot from the back while they were fleeing.

Basu was not available for comment, but a close aide said Karat discussed the Nandigram issue at length with the former chief minister and appreciated the role he had played to keep the front together.

Two days ago, some allies had threatened to pull out of the government over a five-point charter of demands. But Basu intervened and appealed for Left Front unity, terming it his “last wish”.

However, divisions within the front surfaced once again during the day when the CPI, RSP and the Forward Bloc refused to participate in the programmes the CPM had planned in the city.

The CPM has lined up meetings on March 20 and 21, where party workers allegedly hounded out of Nandigram would be paraded.

Bose, also Left Front chairman, phoned leaders of the CPI, RSP and the Bloc this morning with a request to attend the programmes.

“We have told Bose that it is not possible for us to attend the programmes, sponsored by the CPM. Only yesterday, it was decided at the front meeting that all front partners would undertake a social and political process together to restore normality. Then why is the CPM bringing its own men here? Is it not a breach of trust?” asked RSP leader and PWD minister Kshiti Goswami.