Yechury slams Karat's editorial

The ripples created by the Karnataka results have refused to die down in the CPM with general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday virtually rejecting an editorial in the party mouthpiece that pilloried Congress.

A communique issued by the CPM polit bureau acknowledged the developments in Karnataka, where the "BJP-RSS attempts to cobble a majority through horse-trading have been thwarted".

"The BJP has perfected the art of losing elections and then forming the governments. This trend has been stopped with the formation of a government by the JD(S) and Congress," he told a press conference a day after the polit bureau meeting.

He said the developments in Karnataka are the "beginning of a big political change" in the country and he, along with Kerala Chief Minster Pinarayi Vijayan, would attend the swearing-in.

His remarks come days after Peoples Democracy, edited by Polit Bureau (PB) member Prakash Karat, described the Karnataka results as a "big loss" to the Congress and criticised its chief Rahul Gandhi's temple visits, saying it "proved to be a flawed and compromising approach" to counter the Hindutva forces".

When asked about the editorial in the party mouthpiece, Yechury said, "you have the PB communique. That is the party line."

Yechury's subtle public comments against the editorial comes amid signals that the faction led by Karat, which takes a stringent anti-Congress line in the fight against the BJP, does not want to water down their Opposition to the main Opposition party.

The editorial last week also came at a time when Yechury was holding discussions to convince the JD(S) leadership, which was speculated to be warming up to the BJP, not to dump the secular camp.

The party has been witnessing a tussle between supporters of Yechury and Karat on whether the CPM should have an understanding with the Congress to counter the BJP.

Yechury, who argues for a broad-based understanding with all secular parties that includes the Congress, had managed, in the Party Congress, to amend the draft political resolution to keep the options open for an electoral understanding with the Congress.