JOIN USJunking the line propagated by a faction led by Prakash Karat, the CPM on Friday opened doors to an electoral "understanding" with the Congress to defeat the BJP as delegates found reason with general secretary Sitaram Yechury's line.
However, the party will not enter into any political alliance with the Congress as per the amended political resolution adopted at the ongoing Party Congress in Hyderabad while allowing seat adjustments with the Rahul Gandhi-led party.
The reversal in stand comes as a huge victory for Yechury, which comes after months of intense struggle within the party with both the factions pitted against each other. While the Bengal unit was supporting Yechury, the Kerala unit was supporting Karat's line.
The draft resolution, which was cleared by the Karat faction-dominated Central Committee earlier this year, had said that the "main task" of defeating the BJP "has to be done without having an understanding or electoral alliance" with the Congress.
While not supporting an "alliance" with the Congress, Yechury has been arguing that the party should not close its door and be flexible in states where CPM is not strong.
At the Party Congress, the formulation, "has to be done without having an understanding or electoral alliance", was omitted. It now reads, "but this has to be done without having a political alliance with the Congress party".
The scales tilted in favour of Yechury as at least 16 states demanded a secret ballot on the political resolution though usually the voting in Party Conference is held by raising of hands.
Several delegates felt that many could not vote according to their individual choice as it could go against their state unit's stand, like as that of Kerala.
While the delegates from Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat stood with Yechury and the demand for a secret ballot, many delegates from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Haryana too toe this line.
This prompted a section of the leadership to find a middle path, following which Karat faction accepted to omit the formulation of the draft resolution.
With the triennial conference ending on Sunday, the next battle will be the election to the Central Committee.
With the existing Central Committee and Polit Bureau heavily loaded with Karat supporters, it is to be seen whether Yechury gets a panel that goes by his line.
The Political Organisation Report placed before the conference talked about the differences among Polit Bureau members on the political line adopted and how it affected the political and organisational interventions.