CPM may distance itself from Cong

The CPM may declare equidistance from the Congress and the BJP as its political line. The party polit bureau on Sunday began discussing the West Bengal poll debacle.

Whether the poll alliance with the Congress in West Bengal was a correct line is the central theme of the discussion in the two-day meeting which will conclude on Monday.

The apex body of the party will take a preliminary view on the possible reasons for the humiliating debacle which has pushed the party to the third position in the West Bengal Assembly which has been its bastion for over three and half decades. The discussion is aimed at preparing the ground for a big debate over the issue in the central committee which would take place some time in the next month.

The polit bureau is, however, dominated by the leaders who have been opposed to alliance with the Congress. Members, including former party chief Prakash Karat and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, are opposed to the line. They hold the view that allying with the Congress has led to the dilution of party’s ideological position at the national level because the Congress champions same economic policies which the BJP is pursuing.