Last Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had in Kolkata sought a change in the CPI(M)’s tactical line to combat anti-industrialism in the party and in Left circles and said, “The Government does not have any capital to set up heavy industries like steel and power. Naturally, we have to seek private capital.”

Echoing this, a day later, CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu said that private capital was a must for industrialisation, despite the party’s ideology. “Socialism is a far cry and we have not achieved it yet. We have to remember that we are working within the system and private capital has to be used for industrialisation,” he said.

Achuthanandan did not name either of his Bengal comrades, but remarked that the party never had the line to push capitalism before socialism, before virtually declaring war on pro-capitalist approaches, vowing to continue the “ideological struggle”.

Addressing a party meeting here, a visibly agitated VS said the innate strength of the working class would inevitably wipe away capitalism. “In this day and age, the increasing pressure it would bear from the collective strength of the working class is itself bound to be the death warrant of capitalism, which can only help bring more exploitation than progress.” The party has a very clear and considered approach to it, VS said.

VS, who is projected as the last hardliner in the state CPI(M) and is pitted against the rival “reformist” official faction, led by state CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, obliquely shrugged off the threat of the central leadership coming down on his followers again for factionism — sectarianism, in CPI(M) speak — for articulating this issue.

“The party had never decided to ban the ideological struggles within itself in the name of sectarianism. And no such ban will ever work even if it is attempted,” VS declared.

Adding to the discomfiture of the official CPI(M) that has yet to respond to the Bhattacharjee-Basu stance, M V Raghavan, expelled CPI(M) leader and supremo of the Communist Marxist Party (CMP) on Monday made a call for disbanding the CPI(M) if the party agreed that socialism just didn’t have a future.

The state leadership of the Forward Block, which is part of the Left Democratic Front, has already slammed the pro-capitalism remarks of the Bengal leaders, and vowed not to dilute its own perceptions and policies under any circumstances. Other Left constituents are yet to speak out on this. The Congress too on Monday got into the controversy. KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said the obvious policy shift of the CPM that Basu and Bhattacharjee amplified was now certainly going to sound the death knell of Communism in India as well. The KPCC chief also went on to make a call to Left Democratic Front constituents unable to stand with the CPI(M) anymore to make up their minds fast if they wanted to get out of the LDF.