Buddha skips Politburo,says Karat ignored Basu’s warning

For the record,Nirupam Sen,the states Industries Minister,who is also a Politburo member,said that Bhattacharjee was staying away in view of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state after the Lok Sabha polls. But insiders said the CM feels the Politburo at this stage was a futile exercise as the UPA has already got the numbers and its clear the Left will have to sit in opposition. Whats there to decide and debate? asked a comrade.

The chorus of criticism against Karat gathered more voices today as stunned party leaders identified two issues: withdrawal of support to the UPA on the n-deal and Karats Third Front fancy. The Indian Express spoke to some of them:

•Prasanta Pradhan: Defeated MP from Contai,a four-time MLA contesting the Lok Sabha polls first time. People have not taken kindly to the withdrawal of support from the UPA government. This decision was taken by the Politburo and central committee. Before taking this decision,our general secretary Prakash Karat met Jyoti Basu twice. Basu repeatedly warned him against trying to pull down the UPA government. For,the issue at stake,the nuclear deal,was an extremely complex one. The poor and the farmers never understood why we wanted to topple the government. And the Third Front? Before people could comprehend who was with us and who was not,the polls were over. Thats why the people did not accept us.

•Amitabha Nandi: CPM state committee member and two-term MP from Dum Dum Lok Sabha seat who was defeated this time: From Day One of withdrawing support from the UPA,our slogans,our activities have proved we are against stability. And the proposal for a third alternative was not accepted by the people because they thought that the Third Front would not be able to provide a stable government…When we complete our introspection it will certainly emerge that the partys top leadership has failed.

•Tarit Topdar: Six-term MP defeated from Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat. It was assumed by the electorate that the game of toppling governments in Delhi was over with the formation of the UPA government in 2004 with Left support. But those who tried to destabilize the UPA (read the CPM) have been punished by the electorate. We have been the key players against the UPA. The people have rejected this. It is precisely because of this that the idea of a Third Front has not been accepted by the people. All these are highly political issues and in some cases it was the sheer incapability of the top leadership that damaged us most. All these will become more and more clear in the days ahead.

•Rupchand Pal: Seven-term MP defeated in Hooghly under which falls the Singur Assembly segment. There may be many reasons for our defeat but I think people did not want a fractured,fragmented mandate and an unstable government. Thats why the Third Front formula did not work.

•Biman Bose: Politburo member and CPM state secretary. We did not get the time to convince people about the Third Front. People wanted a stable government and they voted for a stable government at the Centre. Agriculture or industry are not the issues. Otherwise,why should we fare so badly in other states (read Kerala)?

•Shyamal Chakrabarty: CITU West Bengal State president and central committee member. People rejected the idea of a Third Front.

•Santasree Chatterjee: defeated MP from Serampore. People have voted for a stable government. They have not responded to the call for a Third Front.

•Swadesh Chakrabarty: defeated MP from Howrah. People failed to understand the virtue of a Third Front. Stability,withdrawal of support from UPA and the Third Front are all co-related. Nothing was accepted by the people.

•Hannan Mollah: defeated MP from Uluberia. We have been severely punished. Have we lost touch with ground reality?

On the ally front,too,the Forward Bloc and the RSP trained their guns at the CPM for riding roughshod over partners in Kerala. At a meeting of the Left parties today,they also pointed out that the Third Front failed because of its amorphous nature.

While the attacks are targeted at Karat,there are Politburo members of the view that the party believes in collective responsibility. Its obvious we committed mistakes and need to introspect. The decision to prop up a Third Front and work for ensuring the defeat both the Congress and the BJP was a collective decision of the Central Committee, a senior Politburo member said. Forward Blocs G Devarajan pointed out that Third Front faltered because it neither had a name nor a concrete policy or a clear leader.

(with Manoj C G)