JOIN USThe talk of merger of the two left parties comes in the backdrop of the recent poll debacle suffered by the left parties in West Bengal and Kerala.
The CPM was separated from its parental organisation, the CPI, in 1964. However, Yechury, refused to give a time frame to achieve the merger and said he could not guess how long the process might take. He was speaking at a ‘Meet-the-Press’ organised by the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists here.
Answering a question on the merger talk by the CPI leader Bardhan in Vijayawada on Sunday, Yechury said: “The merger of the two parties, however desirable it may be, has to undergo a certain process. One way of doing it is through the unification of cadre and joint activities at the grassroots level, I think that is a more sustainable path, rather than the leadership coming together and shaking hands.”
However, he said the parties were already working together on issues of common interest. When another scribe asked if the cadre coming together meant eventual merger of the parties that separated five decades ago, he replied, “I hope so”. Highlighting the CPM’s commitment towards fighting corruption, Yechury said his party stood for an effective Jan Lokpal legislation bringing the prime minister under its ambit and setting up of a National Judicial Commission.