CPM slams Mamata Banerjee for issuing ordinance on Singur land

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the politburo meeting here, the Marxist leader wondered how Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee can issue an ordinance when the state Assembly was in session.

Asked about the absence of  Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the three-day crucial party meet, he said the former chief minister stayed away due to illness.

Bose submitted the final review report on the party’s poll debacle that ended the uninterrupted 34-year rule of the Left Front in West Bengal. Marxist leader P Vijayan from Kerala also submitted a report on the state’s poll performance.

The politburo meeting commenced at the Makineni Basava Punnaiah Bhavan, the state headquarters of the CPM, on Friday. In the absence of Bhattacharjee, the damage-control initiatives being proposed by sitting secretary Prakash Karat were unlikely to face any hurdles.

In the morning session, the politburo discussed several national issues, including the party’s stand and action needed on campaign against corruption and the necessity to oppose the stances put up by the likes of Baba Ramdev. The Central committee is expected to take a decisive stand on the campaign against corruption in public life and on black money issue.

Bhattacharjee’s staying away from the politburo meetings is not new. It has become a regular practice since 2009, particularly after the party’s debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. He had given a miss to the politburo and central committee meetings in 2010 and kept himself busy with district programmes.

“Buddha da is emotionally fragile, takes things personally. At times, that comes in the way of collective leadership,” a state committee member quipped.