West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s comments against bandhs have touched a raw nerve in the CPI(M), which often uses strikes and blockades as a potent weapon of protest, raising questions on whether his statement would attract disciplinary action.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Chief Minister and Bhattacharjee’s party colleague V S Achuthanandan said, “I don’t think he had expressed such an opinion. If he had said so, then it is wrong.”

Some time ago, a similar remark by young Kerala MP A P Abdullakutty had invited the wrath of the state CPI(M) which had publicly censured him for violating the party line. The MP from Kannur, the CPI(M)’s stronghold in Kerala, had said that the bandh as a protest mode had lost its edge and had only alienated people. His comments stem from the fact that Left-ruled Kerala saw as many as 80 shutdowns this year, called by different parties for varied reasons.

His reasoning was also similar to that of the West Bengal Chief Minister — frequent bandhs have made Kerala a pariah state for investors. What also went against Abdullakutty was his allegiance to V S Achuthanandan in the fight within the party, controlled by state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.

Now the question being asked is whether the party will take note of Bhattacharya’s defiance or choose to ignore it, because the central leadership cannot afford to antagonise the powerful Bengal lobby and seem to be acting against its pro-reforms posterboy.

Party sources said Bhattacharjee may issue a clarification to clear the confusion. “He did not mean to say what he said. That is our feeling. He will clarify it soon,” said a senior CPI(M) leader.

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