The CPM has indicated on Monday that they would propose the name of the candidate for the Vice President’s post.
Briefing reporters on the sidelines of the Central Committee meeting here, party polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury said the post of Vice President should go to non-Congress party member.
When asked whether it would be a Left leader he said it might be anybody. “The non-Congress term also includes us,” he said.
Party sources said that name of Aligarh Muslim University professor Irfan Habib had been discussed.
“Once the Presidential elections are over, we will undertake efforts to generate consensus on the issue,” a senior party leader said.
Even though the Left parties had stated that the candidate should be a political person with a clear understanding of the functioning of the Rajya Sabha, Mr Yechury said the party was not considering Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as a Left favourite for the post.
Speculations were rife on the candidature of Mr Chatterjee following a report in the CPM’s Malayalam newspaper Deshabhimani that said the Left parties should get the Vice-President’s post as they are the largest ally of the UPA. A senior CPM leader had also said that his party would speak to parties like the RJD and NCP on making a Left leader the Vice President.
Referring to the issue CPI leader D Raja said there had been a preliminary discussion among UPA allies and there was a view that since the Congress had the presidential candidate, the Vice-President should be a non-Congress person.
He said the Left parties could take the initiative in choosing a candidate based on consensus.
The Kerala issue relating to the suspension of party leaders Achyutanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan from the polit bureau would be taken up by the Central Committee on Tuesday.
The Central Committee has decided that the next party congress would be in Coimbatore next year.