CPI, CPM not to merge

The leadership of the CPI has dismissed suggestions by a section of the party that it should merge with the CPM, saying that no such situation had yet arisen.

Disappointed by the debacle of the Left parties, a senior leader of the CPI’s Kerala unit, Binoy Viswam, wrote an article in the party mouthpiece suggesting that the two parties should unite.

He argued that there was no more a reason for the two parties to remain split. However, Viswam, who is also the editor of party mouthpiece “Janygam”, clarified that the proposal was made without the consultation of the party leadership.

Rejecting the idea altogether, a senior leader of the CPI told Deccan Herald, “Communist parties do not merge; they reunify. It comes after joint struggles. That stage has not come yet.” He also asserted that it was wrong to think that reasons behind the split had vanished.

“”We are two parties. That shows the reasons for the split have not vanished. However, we favour unity and have earlier passed a resolution as well,” said the leader. The CPI National Council will meet in third week of June to review election results. The CPM was formed in 1964 after it broke away from the CPI.