CPI-M under pressure for Congress coalition

Kolkata: Out of power in both West Bengal and Kerala, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leaders are now dealing with the issue of cadres demanding a electoral tie-up with the Congress party.

However, for party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, the problem could lead to a tussle between the Bengal and Kerala units with one seeking a coalition and other opposing the move sighting electoral loss.

Ahead of the party plenary in Kolkata, the top leaders are walking on a tight rope.

Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee has already called for an alliance with the Congress party to oust the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) citing it as a “danger to society”.

“Politics is the art where you have to live on the day and not in the past. TMC is ruining Bengal and it is the responsibility of the party to come up with a winning alternative,” Chatterjee told Gulf News.

However, the Kerala unit — led by former party secretary Prakash Karat — says such a tie-up could lead to a major confrontation within the party.

“Kerala and Bengal are two different states. They are hoping they will come back on local issues. But in Bengal the terror unleashed by TMC has ensured that a large number of our workers are not able to support us and we need a coalition partner to showcase opposition unity,” a member of the party’s central committee said.

“It will be a tight rope walk for Yechury as not only is there opposition, but the party will also move away from the decision of maintaining equal distance from both Congress and BJP,” Amitava Dasgupta, a political observer, said.

For the CPI-M, winning Bengal is the biggest priority which it lost to the TMC after a continuous rule of 34 years.

The defeat has not only resulted in a loss of moral authority, it has also brought in a landslide in the party famed cadre base as leaders and workers have been defecting to the TMC since.

Additionally, an ageing leadership and the inability to bring in new faces have affected the party and its credibility to defeat the TMC.