Amid division, Karat says all is well in party

Amid sharp differences with General Secretary Sitaram Yechury over party's relationship with Congress, CPM Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat has sought to downplay the division within, saying reducing discussions in various fora to "personality clashes" was wrong.

In a signed article in Peoples Democracy, which he edits, Karat, who is vehemently against any link with Congress, put the blame on media for arriving at "motivated and distorted conclusions" on inner-party discussions and depicting it as intense factionalism between his supporters and Yechury.

The article in the party mouthpiece, which is aimed at projecting a united face, comes days after the Central Committee rejected Yechury's line of having an understanding with secular parties, including Congress, in the fight against BJP. Subsequent media interactions by both Yechury and his predecessor Karat after the CC meeting had betrayed the divisions within the party.

It also comes days after Karat said that Yechury, whose line is dubbed "pro-Congress", did not offer to resign after his line was rejected by the Central Committee, only to be contradicted by the General Secretary who finds "contradictions". Yechury had made it clear that it was "untenable" for him to continue as General Secretary in such a scenario.

With a section viewing his line as being "pro-BJP", Karat has not mentioned about Congress even once in his article. However, he said the country is faced with the "serious consequences" of the BJP-RSS taking over the reins of the state and it was natural that the party discussed a tactical line which can fight the BJP and mobilise people to defeat the BJP.

"Interest and concern about the political line to be adopted by the CPM stems from the widespread desire of secular and democratic minded people that an effective unity be forged to take on the BJP. The political-tactical line that the party Congress will adopt will meet this concern. Based on the political line, the party will adopt concrete election tactics for the forthcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections," he said.

As the battle moves to the party Congress where a final call will be taken, the differences are likely to intensify in the coming days with the Karat faction trying to stall a second term for Yechury. Political analysts said that the Karat faction would like to deny a second term for Yechury, as he was chosen as General Secretary in the 2015 of party  Congress against the wishes of Polit Bureau and Central Committee.