CPM okays Bhattacharya for chief minister's post

New Delhi: The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) Politburo yesterday put the seal of approval to the decision of the West Bengal State Committee renominating Buddhadeb Bhattacharya for the top job in the State.

Bhattacharya, who steered the CPM-led Left Front to a spectacular win in West Bengal Assembly polls, would continue as the chief minister.

Bhattacharya is considered to be one of the few leaders, who is both moderate and efficient and can balance both the hardliners and the liberals in the party.

CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat made the announcement soon after the CPM Politburo meeting.

The CPM Politburo met in the national capital and took stock of the assembly election results in West Bengal, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

Karat said, "The CPM approved the proposal of the West Bengal State Secretariat to have Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to head the Council of Ministers in West Bengal."

Recently, Bhattacharya said he did not want unions in the IT industry. Trade unions criticised this decision, saying this would lead to the exploitation of IT workers.

As West Bengal chief minister, Bhattacharya has liberalised the state's economy to some extent.

He has attracted a lot of foreign investment to West Bengal. Many new industries and IT-related services have emerged under his leadership. He is generally seen as a Communist leader, who is open to reforms.

However, his opponents have criticised him for taking farmlands to build industries. Bhattacharya said those farmlands were not so productive.

Some Communists have also criticised Bhattacharya for pursuing economic reforms.

In the just-concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, Bhattacharya led the CPM to a record seventh consecutive term in office. He won from Jadavpur constituency with 127,837 votes.

His victory margin has gone up from 29,281 in 2001 to 58,130 in 2006. After 1996, Bhattacharya was always considered a viable alternative to Jyoti Basu. Bhattacharya became West Bengal Chief Minister on November 6, 2000.

The CPM Politburo decided to meet on May 27 and 28 in Kolkata to discuss the political situation and to prepare a report for the Central Committee. The CPM Central Committee will meet on June 8, 9 and 10 at Hyderabad.