Prakash Karat denies rift in Left

The party central committee will consider reports from the states at the meeting scheduled for Hyderabad from June 10 to 12. Talking to the media after the meeting of the Politburo, General Secretary Prakash Karat said on Monday: “We had identified our political shortcomings and taken measures to overcome the shortcomings. However, these proved insufficient. We will go into the depth, identify the reasons and take measures to rectify. The district committees and state committees will finalise the reports before the Central meets.”

All members of the Politburo, except outgoing West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya,  attended the meeting. “People have voted for change. We cannot change the mind set of the people. We accept the verdict. The defeat does not mean the epitaph of the Left, for  1,0096,000 people have voted us. We will recover,”  Karat said.

The Politburo took stock of the post-poll violence in West Bengal targeting CPM workers and issued a list of incidents, which have taken place after the poll results were out. It has asked the Trinamool Congress leadership to fulfill its commitment of not targeting political opponents. “Political parties and forces in the country should take a stand against the violence,” Karat appealed.

The Politburo tried to downplay the discontent in the West Bengal unit of the party. The issue of accusation made by Land Reforms Minister of the State Abdul Razzak Mollah against Industry Minister Nirupam Sen and Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is believed to have been raised in the meeting.

Karat also denied that Bhattacharya had resigned from the membership of the Politburo. He said no one has resigned or offered to resign.

He also denied any rift within the Left Front. Acknowledging the role of Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan in wining the elections, Karat said,  “Obviously, the role of VS Achuthanandan in rallying the people was exceptional.”